Be My Person
by LoserLikeSkeeter
Summary: "You can't read everything in a book, Hermione, no matter how hard you try." Fred uttered with a smile, "Sometimes it's best to get your nose out of your books and actually experience life."
1. The One With the Nightmare

_Run._ That's all she could think to do.

 _They're catching up._ she shouted internally as she pushed herself to go as fast and as far as she possibly. Her chest heaved.

 _You're losing momentum Your wand. Grab for your wand._

"Lumos." she whispered, once she had her grip. She needed to see where she was going, what she was doing. She needed to _see_ who or what she was up against, "Lumos." she commanded again, but to no avail. The thing had been rendered useless.

Before she had time to react, she was on the ground. They had her pinned.

 _There's only one thing you can do._ she told herself reluctantly, as she braced herself and let loose on of the strongest kicks she could muster.

" _Blimey, Granger!_ " a familiar voice bellowed, tearing Hermione away from her dream. Her eyes shot open and she sat up just fast enough to see a tall, red-headed boy collapse, "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"What are you doing here?" she snapped back, still reeling from her dream.

"You fell off the couch. If you rolled any further you would've ended up in the fireplace. I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for asking." he turned toward her finally, still rubbing at his jaw. One look at her surroundings made her realize that she wasn't in her dormitory. She'd fallen asleep in the common room.

"Oh, God. Fred, I am _so_ sorry." she guffawed, finally catching a glimpse of his face by the firelight, "I didn't mean to-"

"No worries, Granger; I know you didn't _mean_ to." he chuckled, extending a hand to her to help her to her feet, "That must've been one hell of a nightmare you were having."

"I'm not even sure if it was a nightmare." she chuffed, embarrassed, "It was just running. I don't even know if I was running from anything. It was just dark and I think there might have been someone chasing me, but I couldn't tell. It was strange."

"It's the fear of the unknown." Fred mumbled, joining Hermione on the sofa in front of the fire.

She turned toward him, utter confusion on her face, "It's a what?"

After a moment of seeming disbelief, Fred grew a grin of utter amusement, "Don't you pay attention in your Divination class, Hermione Granger? A dream like the one you just described means that you have a fear of the unknown."

"Oh, so you're a Divination wiz, are you?" she chuckled, her face lighting up.

"Yes, believe it or not, I'm not a complete failure in all things." he laughed heartily, drawing a giggle from her as well, "Care to tell me why you're so worried?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dreams like that don't just pop out of nowhere. Something must have provoked it. What's on your mind?"

"Why would I tell you what's on my mind? I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're not exactly friends, Fred."

He gripped his chest in a faux swoon, letting out a dramatic sob, "I'm hurt, Granger. Really, though, I'm probably the best you're going to get, seeing as everyone else in running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to prepare Potter for the next tournament task."

"You make a fair point." she sighed, "If I tell you Fred, you have to swear you can't tell anyone else. We can't have the whole bloody castle worked up over something that could turn out to be nothing."

He shook his head with a smile, "Naturally. My lips are sealed."

"We all know that Harry's name coming from the Goblet of Fire wasn't a mistake. We think...it might be...You-Know-Who." Fred nodded understandingly, "And I'm just worried. Eventually there's going to be something to which I can't _read_ the solution."

Fred took a moment to take it all in and then folded his hands, a hint of a smile playing at his lips, "I'm going to tell you the key to my success. It's something I don't think I've told anyone, not even George."

"What's that?" she asked, her interest piqued.

"Make it up."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You can't read everything in a book, Hermione, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes it's best to get your nose out of your books and go out and experience things." he shrugged, "Take my advice or don't; it's no skin off my nose. I can tell you, though...my method has never failed me. I'm brighter than I look." Fred winked, causing Hermione to laugh and slump back into the couch. He sat back back as well, looking into the fire.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a while, until Hermione began to yawn, "What time is it?"

"Almost three."

"I should probably go. I've got an 8 am today." she stood up and smiled, giving his shoulder a pat, "Thank you, Fred. I really appreciate this."

"I'm around if you ever need someone to talk to."

"Likewise." she grinned, their eyes locking for just a moment too long before she finally set off for her room, eyes fixed firmly on the ground, "Goodnight, then, Fred."

"Goodnight, Granger."


	2. The One With the Patronus Charm

"Expecto Patronum. You can do it! You're doing so well!" Hermione could hear Harry's chants of good will from across the room as one by one, members of the DA achieved the Patronus Charm. Unfortunately, she hadn't had any luck up to that point and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Okay, let's call that it for today!" Harry called over the bellows of incantations from countless students, "I will see you all after the holidays. Keep working on it as best you can. That's it." he stated, taking his leave only moments later.

As the Room of Requirement began to clear out, Hermione made her way into the hall, pushing through the crowd, making her way closer to the two identical tufts of red hair bobbing in the distance. Taking a side-step past a second-year Gryffindor, she found herself directly behind the two, "Can I speak to you for a moment, Fred?" she asked, grabbing the boy by the forearm and dragging him away from his twin.

"How'd you know it was me?" Fred asked, amused, "I'm sure you would've given George a right fright if you'd pecked him out of the crowd."

Once they were clear out of earshot and far away from any wandering eyes, she turned around, an exhausted half-smile on her face, "I can always tell it's you. You've got this freckle on your neck, just here," she said, running her fingertips just under his ear, "It's a dead giveaway."

"I don't think anybody else has ever noticed that." he chuckled, sitting down against the wall and looking out over the grounds, "Don't you look exhausted." he noted, a sympathetic look beginning to grow on his face.

"Charming, you are." she grumbled, sliding down the wall and collapsing beside him, "You're never supposed to tell a girl she looks tired."

"Noted." he agreed, nodding his head, "What's troubling you?"

"I'm not getting the Patronus Charm. I haven't been able to conjure it a single time. What if I need it? What if there's a Dementor attack and I can't do anything because I can't conjure a bloody Patronus. You seem to be getting it just fine. What do you think of when you conjure yours?"

"I think about the first time George and I got one of our experiments to work." he shrugged, "What you would expect, I suppose. What are you thinking about when you do yours?"

"When I got my Hogwarts letter, naturally." she grumbled, resting her head on his shoulder, "There must be something else, because the memory that I've been using isn't working, but I can't remember a time that I've been happier."

"That's not all that's bothering you, is it?" he questioned, resting his cheek atop her frizzy head of hair, "There's something else. You don't come to me with little things like that. You know you're going to get the Patronus sooner or later. What else is there?"

She looked out across the grounds momentarily, trying to collect her thoughts. Fred had been her confidante for nearly a year at that point, but still struggled to be largely talkative and thought-provoking with someone she knew to be a certified jokester, "Fred, do you ever feel like you're...just one part of a whole?"

His face dropped then. At that exact moment Fred wanted nothing more than to burst into hysterical laughter, but realized that that was certainly not what Hermione needed in that moment, "Please tell me you're bloody joking."

"Why would I joke about this? I'm starting to feel like...outside of _Ron, Harry, and Hermione..._ there isn't much of _me_ left."

"Hermione, you _do_ realize that I'm one half of the Weasley twins? The only time I'm allowed to be anybody other than that is when I'm with you."

A look of realization dawned on Hermione's face then and she peered up at him, as if to say _I'm sorry, "_ We're not so different, you and me."

"What am I going to do when you leave? I'm going to be a mess without you to talk to." she admitted.

"I'm going to tell you exactly what you're going to do. You're going to come to my shop every week and we're going to go back to my office and we're going to chat, just like we are now. You remind me of who I am, Granger. Don't think you're going to get out of that just because I'm moving a few blocks down the road."

"Oi! Lovebirds!" the word resonated off the stone walls, causing Hermione to turn pink with embarrassment. She turned toward the voice to see Ginny standing at the end of the corridor, "Whenever you've got a moment, Harry needs to see us all. Says it has something to do with what we're going to be doing over the holiday.


	3. The One With the Christmas Gift

It was Christmas Eve night and the Burrow was alive with all manner of hurried whispers and shuffling boxes. For the first time, the Weasleys and company had decided to do a gift exchange. Everyone, of course, knew that they'd be receiving new winter wear from Mrs. Weasley, but the rest had turned into a bit of a contest - who had gotten the best gift for this one's sibling or that one's friend.

Hermione had no time for it, though. She'd had her few gifts wrapped up and ready for Christmas for nearly an entire month. She'd enlisted her parents' help, leaving her time to study instead of shop. Hermione had never liked shopping.

Muggle trinkets had always been a source of excitement for the Weasleys and Hermione took full advantage of that fact. The list she sent to her parents had ended up being fairly straight-forward, to her own delight. The less she could dwell on Christmas shopping the better. Hermione hated crowds, hated the stuffy store clerks, and _hated_ the cold. Frankly, the Christmas season was her least favorite time of year. Not that she would ever mention that to any of the Weasleys. They loved the holidays and she wasn't going to be the one to take that away from them.

A _pop_ pulled Hermione from her reverie. So much so, she nearly shot six feet into the air from where she'd been sprawled across her bed in Ginny's room studying. Heart still pounding, she turned toward her grinning Weasley twin and snapped, "That's not funny!" chucking a pillow at him from the bed, "What if Ginny had been in here?"

"I knew she wouldn't be. Just saw her in the kitchen." he chuckled, catching the pillow she'd thrown and flinging himself onto the bed alongside her, disregarding the books scattered across the bed and side table, "Thought you might want some company."

"I'm studying, Fred." she grumbled, grabbing for one of the books that he'd managed to send falling to the floor.

"For God's sake, Granger; it's Christmas Eve! Lighten up."

"I'll live after I know whether or not I've passed my exams." she sighed, flipping back to the page she'd been on previously, continuing her note taking, "I'm not much in the mood for celebrating what with all that's going on, either."

He chuckled, rolling onto his side and brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes, "All that's going on? All the more reason to have a laugh while we can."

"Fred, just give me a few minutes to finish my writing." she conceded, rolling her eyes and shifting her concentration back to her book.

"Fine, fine, fine." he grumbled in return, rolling off her twin bed and kneeling by her knees, "I'll leave. I'll give you as much time as you want, but I want you to open this first."

He placed a small, wrapped box on top of her book, causing her to avert her attention from her studies once more, "What's this?" she questioned, sitting up and taking the box in her hand. It was just small enough to fit in her palm.

"It's your Christmas present." he grinned, moving to sit at the edge of the bed, "Open it."

Quickly, she did as she was instructed, and inside the box sat a beautiful light blue pendant, held in place on a silver chain, "It's gorgeous." she gushed in utter disbelief, "And now I feel exceptionally awful because all I got you was some half-wit Muggle prank..." she trailed off, eyeing her pendant suddenly, "What does it do?" she asked pointedly.

His eyebrows quirked upward in amused confusion, "It…complements your eyes?"

"You're trying out some new product, aren't you? What does it do? Burn on contact? Squirt ink down my shirt?"

"No, but I appreciate the ideas, Granger. You'd be a fair prankster yourself."

"So this is...real?" she questioned in utter disbelief, "You picked this out yourself? At a jewellery shop?"

"And it was bloody difficult, too. Have you ever been into one of those shops? There are a million bits and pieces that all look _exactly the same._ I swear if one more employee tried to explain to me how the bloody cut affects how the light bounces off the-"

"I love it." she interjected, throwing her arms around him, "Could you...put it on for me?" she asked, placing the pendant around her neck and handing him the ends to clasp.

"You know, I realized as I was buying it that this was either going to go incredibly well or incredibly bad." he chuckled to himself, stepping away to let her admire her new piece in the mirror.

"Oh, and why's that?" she asked off-handedly, not paying any particular attention.

A blush began to raise in his cheeks and neck then as he finally admitted, "I was going to use that line - about how it brings out your eyes. Only problem was I couldn't remember exactly _what_ color your eyes were. I just _really_ hoped they were blue."

"Lucky guess, then."

"Indeed."

"Tell me what I can get your for Christmas." she finally insisted, "I'm telling you - I had my parents go to a Muggle magic shop and grab something from the dollar bin. I'm awful at gift-giving and I feel terrible now."

"You don't have to make it up to me, Hermione. It's not a contest." he shook his head, heading for the door, "I need to get going. I'm supposed to be having a meeting with George. We're coming out with a new line of products before the start of the new semester. Only problem is we haven't gotten anything to a working standard yet."

"Use my idea, then. A pendant that squirts ink. Then we'll call it even." she cackled at the disapproving look on Fred's face.

"No offense, Granger, but it's going to take a lot more than that to make up for the god-awful card trick kit you got me." he admitted, a devious smile spreading across his lips.

"How did you-"

"I needed a way to test our new Bypassing Bifocals. Lets the wearer see through physical objects. Percy is going to appreciate that new Quick Quotes Quill, by the way. Very thoughtful of you." he said with a wink. With that, he tore out of the room and down the hall, leaving Hermione to her writing.


	4. The One With the Kiss

"Do you have a second?" Fred asked quietly, sliding across the floor to sit next to Hermione. She'd been sprawled out on the floor of the living room on the Burrow's fourth story for nearly half the day studying. It was like that every day, though. He always knew where to find her.

Noticing her uncharacteristically quiet demeanor, Hermione closed her book and sat up, "Fred, what is it?"

"I just…need to talk for a minute." He grumbled, glaring up at the ceiling, "Mum has known me for eighteen and a half years, Hermione."

"Naturally." She nodded, her confusion evident.

"Even if she can't tell us apart, the woman's got a 50-50 shot of calling me by my own bloody name and she gets it wrong 100% of the time. It's like George and I are the same _damn_ person."

Hermione sighed, running a hand through his hair to calm him, "She means well, Fred. You can't hold it against her."

"We were always the ones who got lost in the shuffle, Hermione. I mean, think about it. All of my siblings have their _thing._ My thing was always that I was just like somebody else. It just makes me feel…sometimes…like I'm not really a whole person." He admitted frustratedly.

"That is not true." She insisted, "Don't sell yourself short. You mean too much to me. If nothing else, _that_ can be your thing, okay? You're _my_ best friend."

"What about Harry and Ron?" he asked in disbelief.

"You know they're my friends. They're my brothers, but I would never in my life even _think_ to tell them half the things that I tell you. It's true, Fred. You're the one."

Before she could process what was happening, he was over top of her, his lips against hers, hands on her body. Her assumptions about Fred had proven correct. Kissing him felt second-nature. Everything with him was second-nature. A hand on her thigh urged her to wrap her legs around his waist. It wasn't until minutes later (with a hand up her skirt) that she finally came to her senses. Her eyes shot open and she pushed him away quickly.

"What – did I do something?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious.

She shook her head fervently, averting eye contact and moving away, "You can't do that. _We_ can't do that. _You_ and _I_ cannot do _that._ " she whispered in shock, her hands shaking as she tried to readjust her blouse.

"Care to elaborate, Granger? Do correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that _that_ was where this was headed."

"No, no. It was. You were very right." She assured, collecting her books off the floor and forming them into a neat pile beside her, "I shouldn't have – it's not your fault. Fred, I know that both of us feel these… _things…_ but right now, I need you to be my friend. I need you to be my _person…_ and you can't be that if we're together in any way."

"Your…person, you say?" he questioned, giving her his most confused look yet.

"Yes, Fred; you're my person. As in…if I killed someone, you would be the one I would call to help me hide the body."

"I don't see why you would need me for that," he chuckled, "Doesn't seem too difficult a task to just spell the-"

"Not my point." She sighed, giving him a scolding glance, "The point is, if we were to pursue this any further than where we're at right now, it would change our dynamic completely and I like how it is now, don't you?"

"Of course I do." He admitted, "But I think I'd like it better if you and I could show affection, hell, even acknowledge each other's existences outside of the occasional rendezvous. Wouldn't you?"

She rolled her eyes, unable to contain what she was feeling. It was true; she had fancied Fred, but it didn't make any sense for them to pursue each other. There were a million options out there for both of them, she'd convinced herself. What was the point of jeopardizing the good thing they had for a fling?

"Things are getting worse every day." She reasoned, "Things are bad at Hogwarts, they're bad here, they're bad at home…I don't want one of the only good things I've got going for me to fall apart because we couldn't make a relationship work."

"Have you ever considered, though, what would happen if it _didn't_ fall apart? What it would be like to be together, you and me?" he offered up, "Partners in crime?"

She thought for a moment, her mind flying in a million different directions. She pulled her knees to her chest and finally gave him the sternest look he'd possibly ever seen, "I have a proposition to make. A deal."

"Let's hear it, then." He agreed, clapping his hands together in excitement.

"After the war is over." She concluded, "Give me until the war is over. We'll both have a clear head about everything. We won't have all of these exterior _things_ to worry about. After the war we'll see if this is something that we can make work. Until that point, we'll stay like this."

" _Hermione-_ "

"No, Fred, listen to me." She cut him off, holding up a hand to silence him, "You said it yourself two years ago. I fear the unknown. And right now, _everything_ is an unknown, except for this. Except for you. So…for my sake…can we _please_ be _just_ friends. I'm not saying forever. Just for right now."

He considered it for a moment, evaluating his options. Then his eyes lit up, "I have a counterproposition." He said with a grin, "Kiss me on New Year's Day. At midnight. In front of everyone. Then I'll wait for as long as you want. What do you say?"

"You're barking."

"Maybe." He shrugged, "It's up to you, m'dear." He smirked, extending his hand for her to shake.

"You're ridiculous." She grumbled with a quirky half-smile as she took his hand and gave it a shake, "I'll see you on New Year's, then."

And true to her word, two days later, as the Weasley family stood to watch the clock strike midnight, she turned to him, bouncing up on her toes to leave a chaste kiss on his lips. To his shock, she ran to Ron and Harry as the clock still tolled, pecking them both on the cheek, leaving them stunned. It hadn't been something that they were expecting, "For long life, enduring traditions, and good luck. That's what my dad always says." She justified. With that, she turned on her heel and marched back up the stairs, no doubt to finish the seemingly never-ending barrage of homework assignments she managed to find herself stuck with.


	5. The One With the Fiendfyre

A/N: This one is an AU in which Hermione is in the Burrow when the death eaters torch it with Fiendfyre. Let me know what you think!

They couldn't believe that it'd actually happened. One moment they were sitting at the dinner table having idle chat with the Order and the next, the house was surrounded by a ball of flames, being furiously fought off by Tonks and Remus.

Fred and George came tearing down the stairs at the sight of the raging flames outside, doing their best to help keep the Fiendfyre at bay whilst Remus and Tonk took off after Harry and Ginny.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Ron shouted over the crackling fire, running out of the house in astonishment.

"It's closing in!" George shouted in desperation.

A few more moments of keeping the fire at bay and the worst thought imaginable entered Fred's mind. He shoved his wand into his vest-pocket and took off sprinting toward the house, his mother shouting for him, "Fred Weasley, what are you doing?"

"Hermione's still in there!" he called back, throwing the door wide open and sprinting up the stairs to where he knew she'd be, " _Hermione!_ " he bellowed, sprinting up the stairs at full force. He knew she wouldn't have her wand on her, so even if she have the slightest clue what was happening, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Without hesitation, he flung the bathroom door open, grabbing her robe off the back of it, " _What the bloody hell are you doing?_ " she gasped, trying to cover herself where she lay in the bath.

"We've got to go." He iterated, throwing the robe over her shoulders and dragging her out of the tub, "Where's your wand?"

"It's in Ginny's room. Fred, what is it?" she gasped as she ran alongside Fred down the hall to where Ginny's room was. Seeing the sight through the window, Hermione was nearly thrown into hysterics, "Fiendfyre."

In a moment, she grabbed her wand and a pair of shoes from the floor and the two of them made their way to the stairwell, "I didn't know. I didn't hear anything. I put a silencing charm up, because I wanted quiet and-"

Without notice, a huge burst of fire tore through the house. Then another. And another. Fred dragged Hermione to the ground, shielding her with his body, holding onto her tightly. A harsh burst of wind caused the two to go tumbling down the stairs to the next landing.

" _Duck!"_ Hermione gasped as a beam fell from the ceiling. The two rolled out of the way once more, grabbing hold of each other to ensure they weren't separated.

Fred tore his wand from his pocket, throwing out spell after spell, trying to keep the flames at bay, "Fred." Hermione murmured, tugging on his arm as she regained her footing. He wouldn't budge. He continued to throw out spells, desperately hoping to find one that would stick, " _Fred,_ we've got to go!" she snapped, trying to pull him down the stairs, but to no avail, "Fred, it's no use!" she shouted, knocking his wand from his hand and grabbing it off the ground. In doing this, she seemed to have awoken him from some sort of a trance.

Hand in hand, they dashed down the last few flights of stairs, avoiding the falling debris, finally crashing through past the door and collapsing outside in a wheezing, coughing pile. Hermione and Fred caught their breath, as eight sets of disbelieving eyes watched on in horror, as they watched the Weasley family home come crashing down with the Fiendfyre.

As she got her wits about her, Hermione began to cry. The shock and utter terror she'd been struck with while trying to find her way out of the house quickly washed away. In its place was left an overwhelming sense of relief for herself and devastation for the Weasley family. Her throat constricted to the point of burning. She could scarcely breathe, much less speak, so she settled for throwing her arms around the boy who saved her, crying into his shoulder. He sat there in stony silence, not even able to wrap his arms around her.

After a few moments, Hermione regained her composure, hugging him tighter still, "I'm so sorry." She whispered, holding him tightly to her, "I am so, so sorry."

It took a moment, but finally he was able to hug her back, his arms wrapping around his middle as they knelt there together, "That was my home."

"That was your house." She corrected hopefully, wiping away her tears and looking him dead in the eye, "The house can be rebuilt. The home is where the family is. That's what my dad would say."

Hermione stood then, wiping her face once again for good measure, "We'll stay together tonight. All of us. We'll stay in the flat above the shop tonight and tomorrow we'll see if there isn't anything we can salvage from the house." She gave Mrs. Weasley a reassuring look then, seeing the turmoil in her eyes, "We are going to be fine." Hermione said firmly.

"We're going to be fine." Fred repeated, nodding hollowly.

As the Weasleys and Harry filed away from the house, Hermione stopped Tonks in her tracks, "Would you mind terribly if I asked you to try to find something for me and Ginny to wear?" she asked, motioning toward the younger girl who, too, was stuck outside in nothing more than her bare feet and a robe.

"Of course." She nodded, "I'll be at the shop as soon as I can."

One by one the family apparated to the storefront, waiting for one of the twins to arrive to unlock the door. George was the first so he was the one who was left to the task.

Though the twins had done well for themselves and their flat was certainly nothing to scoff at, it certainly was not equipped to house ten people. George offered up his room to his parents, so that they might have a decent place to stay, but Fred kept his room to himself. George ended up taking the couch and the others spread out across the floor. Silence fell soon thereafter.

After she was sure that everyone else was asleep, Hermione crept across the floor and slipped into Fred's room. She was almost positive he wouldn't be asleep.

"Fred?" she whispered into the darkness, but to no response. She could hear his breathing though. It was heavy and quick, clear indicators that he was awake, "Fred, I can hear you." She sighed in resignation, pulling her wand from her robe pocket and murmuring, "Lumos."

There, buried under a pile of sheets, teary-eyes and blotchy-faced, was Fred Weasley. Hermione couldn't remember a time she'd ever seen him that broken. Right then, he wasn't the Fred that she knew – the incandescent boy who could change the attitude of any room. No, here he was just Fred, the one who needed to be comforted.

"Can I lay with you?" she asked softly, moving slowly toward the bed, and lifting up the edge of the sheets, "You don't have to say anything, if you don't want. I think we could both use the company, though, if you don't mind?"

He nodded faintly then. She pushed the comforter to one side then, holding on to the corner table as she slid in beside him. It took a moment for her to begin to feel comfortable in what she was doing, but when she finally was, she held him close. His mop of red hair brushed at her neck as she clung to him, holding him with one arm and running a hand through his hair with the opposite hand.

Hermione felt a fresh stream of tears preparing to roll down her cheeks as she swayed back and forth softly, " _You_ saved my life." She whispered, "You put your _life_ on the line. For _me._ "

There was no response. She didn't expect one, though. Nevertheless, she continued on, trying to fill the stifling silence.

" _Thank you."_ She sobbed quietly, resting her head atop his, "Just…thank you. I can't imagine what you're going through, so I'm not going to pretend like I can help you. Because I can't. But I'm going to tell you something now that my dad told me a million times growing up.

"It's going to be okay. I don't know how or when, but eventually…it's going to be okay."

It took a few more minutes of laying in silence, but soon enough, Fred's croaking voice whispered back to her, "Thank you, Hermione."


	6. The One With the I Love You

"Let me get this straight. You are heading out on a journey with my brother and the boy wonder to collect mysterious objects that Dumbledore eluded to, but you have no clue what they are or where to find them." Fred asked with a blank expression as the two went about tidying the kitchen after dinner.

Hermione sighed, knowing that he wasn't thrilled with the bomb she'd just dropped, "The abridged version, but yes. That's the general idea."

"You're barking." He scolded, "You-Know-Who's followers have been after Harry since day one. They've probably got your name on display somewhere, marking you as a blood traitor and now you want to go traipsing off into the woods with not so much as a spell to protect you. You aren't even in your seventh year yet, Hermione. You don't know enough defensive spells to go hand-to-hand with a death eater. Just listen to me. Just go to Hogwarts. It's the safest place for you to be right now."

"Hogwarts isn't the way you remember it, Fred. I wouldn't go back there even if it were safe. This is where I have to be. I've already erased my parents' memories, so they won't remember who I am. I just need to get through Bill and Fleur's wedding tomorrow, get a few things together, and then we're going to finish this."

"Then I'll come with you." He said definitively, causing her to stop dead in her tracks, "I'm telling you, Hermione. It's not in your best interest-"

"Look, Fred, the war is going to come to a head soon, whether we like it or not. The best thing we can do now is try to get the upper hand and this is how we're going to do it." She reasoned, "You've got to stay here with your family. They're going to need you."

"But I'm going to need you." He murmured under his breath, so low she could barely make it out.

"You listen to me." She snapped, holding his face in her hands, careful to ensure nobody else was watching. As it were, the rest of the family and their guests were outside at the make-do Quidditch pitch, "We are both going to be fine." She insisted, "We're needed in different places, is all. I'll send you a message as soon as I can, to let you know that I'm safe and I want you to do the same."

He nodded his head reluctantly to which she simply took his hand, "After we leave, I want you to take your family and go into hiding. Things are going to get a lot worse before they can get any better and I – I don't know if the Order is strong enough to suppress it anymore. Your best bet would be to get out of the line of fire."

"I'm only doing _that_ if you come with us." He countered.

"Fred, don't you get it?" she barked, throwing down the rag she'd been using to wash the pots and pans from dinner, "They want Harry and _me_ and everyone _like_ me dead."

"Then obviously your best options wouldn't be to go out on a hunt for magical objects by yourselves, would it?"

" _Fred-_ "

"Hermione," he snapped back, "I am not going to let you go on a suicide mission!"

"It's not a suicide mission!" she barked back, "And since the last time I checked, you are not my keeper. You don't get to tell me what's in my best interest and you _certainly_ do _not_ tell me what to do. That's not your choice to make." She tossed the pot that she'd been washing back into the sink, storming out the door, "You can finish the dishes yourself." She snarled, heading off to the Quidditch pitch to watch Ginny and the boys.

That night, Hermione returned to her room to find a letter on her pillow, her name written a tiny scrawl across the front. Haphazardly, she opened it, hoping that Ginny wouldn't question her on it.

 _Mione,_

 _You didn't deserve the grief I gave you after dinner. Know that it's because I care about you and I don't want to see you getting hurt._

 _I've given some thought to what you said and you're right. It would be safer for all of us if we went away for a while. I sent a letter to my brother Charlie. Maybe he can have something arranged. I know it's going to be hard to get George to leave the shop and to get Mum to leave the house, but you're right. It's time._

 _Meet me on the roof tonight at 10. I want to talk to you in person._

 _Yours,_

 _Fred_

 _P.S. You may want to keep this away from the curtains. It's spelled to catch fire as soon as you're finished reading…_

And true to its word, the corner of the parchment lit a moment later, destroying all evidence of its ever having existed.

Easy as it could've been for Hermione to simply apparate herself onto the roof, she preferred to walk up the copious flights of stairs. Every floor was different. Different furniture. Different people. She quietly snuck through the room which Harry and Ron shared on the top floor, throwing up the window shade and stepping onto the landing.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't be coming." Fred admitted from his spot at the peak of the roof, "Need a hand?" he asked, crawling in her direction.

"No, I think I've got it!" she called back, jumping to catch the ledge of the roof and swinging up, "Clever thing you did, with the parchment."

"We were thinking of introducing it as a new product. Glad you like them." He chuckled, leaning back against the roof and looking up at the stars, which were just beginning to peak out.

"I always loved it up here." She murmured, laying her head on his shoulder, "It's like…whatever's going on down there doesn't matter…we're safe from it all."

"I wish we were safe from it all." He sighed, his eyes focused solely on the constellations above, "Do you know when you're going, then?"

"After the wedding, but I don't know exactly. I know Harry's planning something; he just won't tell us. Do you know when you all are off to Romania?"

"Not yet." He admits, "Mum insists she staying. It's going to be hard to get her to part with the house. She and my dad practically built it up with their own two hands."

"You have to know, Fred, that if you stay, they will torture you. They will do whatever they have to in order to learn our whereabouts."

"I know."

After a moment of silence, she rolled onto her side, peering down at him, "I want you to dance with me at the wedding tomorrow."

"Well, thank you, Granger, for that sentiment, but I'd assumed that that was a given." He chuckled, his eyes twinkling as he turned to face her.

She rolled her eyes, a small smile appearing on her face as well, "I know, I know." she conceded, "But I just want you to know that this is how I'm going to remember you. This is how I'm going to remember everyone. Tomorrow, at the wedding, when everyone is happy, and at their best, _that's_ how I'm going to remember it."

"I love the way you think, Hermione." He mumbled, looking back up at the nighttime sky.

"I love you, too." She stated, absentmindedly.

Seemingly in the same instant, Hermione and Fred both realized what she had said. Fred turned to her, an impish grin on his face. She, on the other hand, went pale as a ghost, "What's that again, Granger? Did you say something?" he asked teasingly.

"No. No, I didn't." she gasped, her heart feeling as though it were about to pump out of her chest.

"Because I could've sworn I heard you say you _loved_ me." He chuckled, heaving himself up onto his elbows, "Nothing to be ashamed of, Granger. I'm a charming bloke. Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't come to this conclusion sooner."

" _Fred._ " She grumbled in embarrassment, shielding her face in her hands. At that precise moment, Hermione Granger prayed that the ground would open and swallow her whole. Her face burned bright red and she could've sworn she felt herself shaking.

"Hey," he murmured, peeling her hands away from her face and pinning them by her sides. She gave him the most pathetic look he'd ever seen. She could've cried from embarrassment. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, " _I love you._ " He whispered, almost unintelligibly, "It feels good to say." He admitted, "Say it again for me, will you?"

She rolled her eyes then, a smile growing on her face, as she looked directly into his hopeful eyes and said the words, "I love you, Fred Weasley."

"I love you, too."

Their lips met then. That's the thing Hermione was certain she'd remember for all time. The two of them, best friends since her fourth year, kissing on the rooftop under the stars. It felt right. It felt like, whatever happened next, they could take on, because they had this one moment, this one memory, to cling to.

They laid there together, staring up at the stars and holding onto each other until the sun just began to peek over the horizon, "I should probably get going." Hermione murmured, sitting up and admiring the dew-soaked field below, "Come here." She whispered, leaning in for one last kiss before propelling down the side of the roof and onto the landing outside of Ron's window, "I'll see you in a few hours." She grinned one time with finality, before lifting the window quietly and slipping back into the house.


	7. The One With the Reunion

Climbing through the only hidden passageway left at Hogwarts was a surreal experience for Hermione Granger. Never before had she imagined herself using one of them for _this_ purpose. Walking in tight formation with Harry, Ron, and Neville, she had to admit, she had never felt more exhausted nor exhilarated in her entire life. The war was coming to a head. The only things standing between her and her freedom were a handful of strategically-flung curses. She was ready.

Hopping out the other side of the corridor into the all-too-familiar Room of Requirement had her reeling. She couldn't help but to think back to her fifth year, when they'd used that same exact room for the training of Dumbledore's Army. It had changed since then, obviously. Seeing it in its newest state, it was equipped to house what seemed to be anywhere between twenty and thirty students.

"Go call for the rest of the Order. Now!" Neville commanded, "They'll be here any minute."

Quick but friendly catch-up ensued from all those in the Room of Requirement, as they waited for the Order members to arrive, "Ginny," Hermione whispered, managing to get a word in with her friend, pushing past throngs of onlookers, "when they say _The Order-_ "

"Almost all of them." She concurred, "They were gone for a while, but somehow they made a resurgence in the last month or so. None of us could believe it."

"Your family-"

"All of them. Every last one." She beamed with pride.

Hermione's face dropped, her eyes staring past Ginny in disbelief, "They - they're all coming? Here?"

Just as the words passed her lips, the picture frame leading from Aberforth's swung open to reveal the family that she'd been so longing to see for nearly half the year. Losing all focus on the world around her, Hermione's eyes set on her target. She pushed past the crowd of students, desperate to get a word in with the Boy Who Lived.

Fred scanned the room similarly, trying to catch a glimpse of Hermione among the masses of people. Little did he know, he was searching for a fast-moving target. Indeed, one whose trajectory was set directly for him.

She threw her arms around him, clinging to him tightly as she let out a single, relieved sob. His arms wrapped securely around her waist, burying his face in her hair, " _Fred._ " She cried, hopelessly trying to compose herself for the benefit of the dozens of others in the quickly-filling room.

"He's not Fred. I am!" George shouted over the crowd from beside the two of them, "Honestly, Granger-"

"Shut it, you wanker." Fred snapped, causing Hermione to giggle. She could've sworn it was the first _real_ laugh she'd had in months.

Hermione hadn't realized the odd looks they were receiving from friends and family alike until Fred brought it to her attention, "I'd hate to cut this short, but people are starting to stare. A lot of them."

"I don't care." Hermione finally conceded, resting her chin on his chest and beaming up at him, "I don't care anymore. It's you and me now." She insisted, wiping away her tears and standing up on tiptoes to place a quick kiss on his lips, "I love you." She shouted, tears streaming down her face in defined lines, "I love you so much."

She pressed her cheek into his vest, taking in the all-too-familiar musky smell that resided there, "I missed you." She settled for, just as Ron and Harry made their way up to her.

"It's time." Harry murmured, "They know we're here. We're going to convene in the corridor that's adjacent to the Great Hall. You make sure that everyone is where they're supposed to be. I've got something I've got to do."

With that, he took off into the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement along with twenty other students who had to appear to be a part of their houses once again. Hermione didn't want to leave Fred's side until it was absolutely necessary. They listened at the entrance to the Great Hall carefully. Harry made himself known.

"It seems, Headmaster, that despite your best efforts, you still have a bit of a security problem."

"I'd say that's our cue." George called, as Kingsley and Bill flung open the doors to the Great Hall to reveal the near entirety of the Order of the Phoenix. Snape, the newly introduced headmaster, was visibly shaken. Similarly, hundreds of students turned from their places at their respective tables, utterly gobsmacked by the laundry-list of "blood traitors" seen before them. People who had been declared missing, dead, and imprisoned, all stood before the students and staff of Hogwarts, prepared to take their stand.

The next few minutes went by in a blur. In a moment, Hermione was stepping in front of Harry, with Fred close on her heels. The next, they were taking off in opposite directions. Fred grabbed her hand, though, before she could get too far.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked nervously.

"Don't you have any faith in me?" she asked, a wild grin forming on her lips. Never in her life she felt more _free_ than she did in that moment, "I just have to find a basilisk fang. We know exactly where to find them and Ron will be with me the whole time."

"See… _that's_ the part I'm not so sure about." He joked half-heartedly.

"Go get started on the defensive spells. I'll come find you when I've done my part." She said, catching sight of Ron and Harry as they made their way to the stairwell, "I've got to go. I love you." She called over the roar of the crowd.

" _Hey!_ " he shouted, once she was all but out of earshot. She whipped around quickly, nearly whacking a first year as she did so, "Stay alive."

"Likewise!" she called back, turning away finally and dashing after Ron.


	8. The One With the Battle

"It was Fiendfyre." Hermione concurred, pulling herself up off of the floor, "He must've learned it in school-"

Off in the distance, she could just make out the shouts and blasts of dueling, "Christ, that can't have gotten inside of the castle that quickly." She guffawed.

In that moment, she recalled a dream. _The_ dream, as it were – the dream that brought her to Fred Weasley.

 _Run._ That's all she could think to do.

She sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her into the darkness of the hallway. Her chest heaved.

 _You're losing momentum. Your wand. Grab for your wand._

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, rendering one of the opposing death eaters utterly defenseless.

"Nice shot, Granger!" Fred shouted over the roar of the battle. She couldn't help the inkling of a smile that spread across her face as she fired one more well-aimed spell at the death eater that was fast approaching Percy, sending him to the ground once and for all. Her blow hadn't killed him, but surely the inevitable trampling would.

"Have a little faith in me, Weasley!" she called back, catching the utter grin plastered across his face. Together they fought, back-to-back for what seemed like an eternity. Somehow, the impending stampede of death eaters didn't seem nearly as terrifying when each had the other covering their back. There wasn't another person in the world that either of them trusted more than the other, "I told you I would find you." She reminded, aiming a hex at one of their opponents.

"I never doubted that you would. I do appreciate your affinity for flair, though. That was an impressive entrance you made back there. Hold on." He called, doing a near-180 and smacking a tall death eater straight in the chest with a blue bullet of light, to which the bloke collapsed on the ground with a resounding _thud_.

"Hello, Minister!" Percy bellowed, causing all of them to lose track of the task at hand for a split second. , "Did I mention I'm _resigning?_ "

The elder man fell to the ground in fits of discomfort, as Fred let out a morbid cackle, "You really _are_ joking, Perce! I haven't you joke since-"

 _White._

Everything went white for a split second and Hermione felt like she was flying. In the middle of the battle, she found one incandescent moment of piece as she soared through the air, only to be forced back into reality by nothing short of a shriek from Harry.

 _Hold on._

The mantra rang in her head repeatedly, as she fell in slow motion, clinging on for dear life as she did. In one hand, Hermione had a death-grip on her wand and in the other she clung to Fred's robes. She'd just managed to grab hold of his hand before smashing into the wall of the corridor at full force.

Her head snapped back and her neck burned. She could've sworn she was dead.

 _There's no two ways about it._ she told herself, _Someone hits their head that hard they die._

Nevertheless, she was pulled from her daydream by the sound of Percy's voice, "No – no – no–" she couldn't believe her eyes, as, to her horror she crawled across the rubble to find Percy slumped over _his_ body, "No – _Fred–_ "

She couldn't breathe. She didn't _want_ to breathe, "We've got to go!" Harry insisted, shoving aside rubble as he made his way to where Ron, Hermione, and Percy kneeled over Fred's body, all in different levels of hysterics.

As blast after blast tore through the corridor, Percy threw his body over his brother to protect him from the blasts. Hermione did the same, holding his head and neck tight to her body, shielding him from the onslaught of debris.

"Come on, Hermione!" Ron snapped, yanking her away as hard as could, but to no avail. Harry was having just about the same affect on Percy.

"There's nothing we can do for him now – he's gone!" Harry snapped, yanking at Percy's shoulders.

It was then, as they were being dragged away that Hermione felt it, " _Wait!_ " she barked, holding him tighter, placing a hand on his chest.

"Hermione, there's no _time-_ "

"He's breathing!" she wailed, looking up at Percy with tears in her eyes, "Bloody hell, he's alive." She sobbed, holding him even tighter still. His body barely resembled the body she'd grown familiar with. There was no telling what remedies would be needed to heal his ails, but he was breathing. That was more than she had hoped for.

Her hair flew into her face as Harry tore her away, causing her to bash her head on the ground once more. It was only then that she became aware of her own blood. There was a lot of it. She didn't have time to worry on that, though. Hermione followed closely behind Harry as he gripped Fred about the armpits, Percy following suit. They crouched low, avoiding the spells being flung at them from below and moments later, dropped Fred's body in a corner, in which a suit of arms had once taken residence.

"They'll think he's dead. They'll leave him be." Harry said, "We've got to keep moving."

"We can't just _leave him!_ " Hermione reasoned.

"It's the best chance any of us has, Hermione. We've got to go. Come on, now!" he barked, taking off down the hallway with Ron in tow, "Your _job_ is to find the snake!"

"Go," Percy urged, "I'll stay near here – make sure he's safe. You go do what you have to."

"Thank you, Percy." Hermione called, following after Ron and Harry who were already shuffling their way down the next corridor.

 _"_ _You will have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity."_ The snakelike voice whispered into the minds of all of the warriors, death eaters and Hogwartians alike.

"I–I need to go." Harry said reluctantly, "Kill the snake."

"Kill the snake." Hermione reiterated, hugging him tightly, "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"It's all right." He sighed, holding her tightly for his own comfort as much as hers, "It's all going to be over after tonight."

With that, he left them at the mouth of the Great Hall. The Hall had been shifted to accommodate a make-do hospital wing and mortuary. Ron and Hermione hustled through the Great Hall, checking one spot after another, hoping to find the one they were looking for. Soon enough, they fell upon a cot surrounded by red-heads and ran to the group, congregated at the back of the Hall.

Hermione's tears had been threatening to spill over for the entire day and she was at wit's end. In hysterics, she collapsed next to a sleeping Fred, holding onto him tightly. She shook with sobs and didn't even attempt to control her gut-wrenching wails. Carefully, Mrs. Weasley placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder, kneeling down beside her.

"He's alive." She assured.

Searching the faces of the family surrounding her, Hermione brought herself to standing, on wobbly legs and made her way to where Percy stood in resigned silence. Not saying a word, she wrapping her arms around him, taking them all by surprise.

After she managed to find her bearings, she turned back to the Weasley family, who looked to her expectantly, "We're going to finish this. Tonight."


	9. The One With the Proposal

The battle was won.

 _The war is over._

There was nothing left to do, but sit at the entrance to the hospital wing and wait to hear Fred's verdict. Though Hermione had insisted through gritted teeth that he was _strong,_ that there was _no way_ he wouldn't make it out of this, that he would be _ashamed_ to see his family in such a panic over him, she too, held the bleak thought that there was always the chance for bad news.

"He's weak," Madame Pumphrey sighed, wiping her hands on her apron as she exited the hospital wing - or what was left of it, that is, "He was hurt _very_ badly. It's a wonder he's still alive. Should be well enough to be moved to St. Mungo's by tomorrow morning, though."

"Is he awake?" Mrs. Weasley asked, holding onto her husband's hand tightly, "Can we see him?"

"Fred isn't responsive at the moment, but you can go in and sit with him, yes. I'll have to have it be just the two of you, though. There can't be too much commotion in the recovery wing." she said, offering a hand to Mrs. Weasley to help her from where she had been sitting on the floor. Soon after, Madame Pumphrey and the Weasley parents disappeared into the medical ward.

"He's not responsive. That's a bad sign, isn't it?" George murmured. He'd taken comfort in Hermione's presence after the battle had come to its conclusion. As they'd quickly come to discover, they were similar in what they'd wanted after the war. Neither one of them wanted anything more than for Fred to make it out alive.

She held his hand, resting her head on his shoulder softly, "Just because he's not responsive now, doesn't mean he won't be tomorrow. He might wake up five minutes from now. It's up to him; he'll wake up when he's ready."

"I can't believe I let myself get separated from him, Hermione. Maybe I could've done something-"

"There's nothing you could've done, George. The side of the castle imploded on us. We're quite lucky that we weren't all killed. You were doing what you were supposed to. We just got caught in a cross-fire, is all."

He nodded, resting his head atop Hermione's mop of knotted curls, "How are you doing, Ginny?" he asked of his sister, who sat just across the hall from them, accompanied by Bill and Fleur.

"Bloody exhausted." she admitted, "I just want to go home."

"None of us have been _home_ in months." George informed Hermione, "They knew it was a rendezvous point for the Order of the Phoenix, so they were searching the house almost every other day. I'd bet it isn't even the same place we remember."

"If it's still there at all." Ginny piped.

"Hermione, Percy," Mrs. Weasley's voice called from the entrance to the infirmary, "He's asking for you."

"He's awake?" they asked in astonishment, both leaping to their feet at the sound of their names being called.

Quietly, so as not to disturb the other patients, Hermione and Percy made their way to Fred's bedside. On their way in, they caught sight of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley making their way out. One knelt on each side of him and Hermione ran a hand through his hair, her smile half-hearted, "How do you feel?" she asked quietly.

"Just peachy." he grumbled groggily, "I hear you two saved my life. Thanks for that." he coughed, trying to push himself to a sitting position. He was brought back down by the blunt force of his own pain only a moment later, though, "The war's over, is it?"

"Yes, Fred. It's completely over. You-Know - Voldemort - is gone. His followers are being rounded up and sent to Azkaban. In a few months, it'll be as if the whole thing never even happened." Hermione concurred, taking one of his hands in both of hers, "I am so sorry that this happened to you."

"Nothing you could've done about it. You did what you could." he sighed, "I'm alive."

"Yeah, you are." she nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Do you - want me to leave you two alone?" Percy asked, feeling out of place among the three of them, "I can come back..."

Fred reached out and grabbed the corner of his brother's shirt as he stood to leave, "Don't go. I want to talk to you." Fred demanded, "I need to ask - I need you to do something for me...official Ministry business."

"What's that?" his brother asked in utter confusion.

Fred groaned in discomfort, but composed himself a moment later, "I need you to - officiate a ceremony. I'm getting married."

" _Married?_ " Both Percy and Hermione shouted in disbelief.

"Married." he smiled.

Hermione's heart nearly leapt out of her chest. _Married?_ She was assuming that he intended on the ceremony being for the _two_ of them, but it shocked her nonetheless. She thought back to nearly a year prior when she'd promised him they would _give it a try_ after the war. She vividly recalled the encounter, in fact, and she was 100% that _marriage_ had never been on the table.

"Fred," Hermione sighed, moving to sit on the edge of the cot, so he didn't have to move as much to see her. It was clear that every little move he was making was causing him a level of discomfort, "I know that you've been through a lot, but just...think about what you're saying."

"You're the one that thinks about things, Granger. You can't tell me you've never _thought_ about it."

"Of course, I have, Fred, but...this is a _marriage_ we're talking about. You can't just decide overnight that you want to marry someone. You have to date, get to know them-"

"Hermione, you've known me for seven years." he reckoned, "If that's not enough time, I don't know what is."

"Just because we've known _of_ one another for seven years does _not_ mean that we are ready for-"

"Take a breath," Fred commanded, holding up a hand to silence her, though he could barely lift it about waist-level, " _Make it up as you go._ " he reminded her. And for some forlorn reason, it seemed to calm her. Hermione noddd, as he gripped her hand tighter, "Look at me and tell me you don't want to do it, and I'll never mention it again." he finally said, "I won't pester you about it anymore and we'll do this the normal way. We'll date for a few years and then see what happens. Or, we can start now."

Hermione's eyes darted back and forth between Fred who watched her expectantly and Percy, who had a look a utter shock on his face. It was evident that this was not what he was expecting this meeting to turn into.

Collecting herself for all of a split second, she closed her eyes, trying to think logically, though clearly he'd made his mark on her. One thought whirred through her mind, seemingly on repeat: _Make it up as you go._

Finally, she opened her eyes, bringing herself face-to-face with Fred, who seemed to become more and more concerned by the moment. She'd clearly gone too long without responding, "I'm going to say _yes._ " she murmured tentatively, earning what could only be described as a grin of sheer giddiness from Fred, "I have some conditions, though."

"Oh boy." he scoffed jokingly.

"I want a six-month engagement period, during which time we'll _date_ like normal, sensible people. And secondly, I don't want to live above the joke shop. It's too small and I'm not going to make your brother leave _his_ flat on my account. Seem fair?"

"Works for me. God almighty, I wish I could kiss you right now." he beemed.

"Yes, well, judging by the state you're in, I'd say that _that_ probably isn't going to happen for a while." she sighed, "Oh, and Percy, you never actually told us if you'd be able to do the ceremony."

It was then that Fred's elder brother broke into a huge smile. Hermione could've sworn she saw a tear building up in the corner of his eyes, "I'd consider it an honor."

The two visitors sat around Fred's cot, as they all laughed and chatted over the most mundane things they could think of, until finally Madame Pumphrey appeared with George at her side, "Let's give the brothers a moment and then we have to close the ward for the night." she said, fiddling with some remedies on a table nearby, "You two get a move on." she commanded, causing Hermione and Percy to nearly jump to their feet.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Hermione said, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, before standing to follow Percy out of the room.


	10. The One With the Argument

" _This_ is perfect." Hermione gushed as they walked into the tenth townhouse that day. Fred never would've pegged her as one to get excited about shopping for homes, "High ceilings. Three bedrooms, three and a half baths. Fred, this house is perfect. We've got to take it. I think this is the one. We need to sign for it today."

Fred let out a sigh, collapsing on the show-couch as soon as they entered, "And this one, just like all the others, is way out of our price range. I told you, Hermione; we can't afford to live this close to London. Not with the condition that the shop is in."

Her excitement dropped noticeably, "We've talked about this." she muttered, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his knee, "Fred, Dad offered to help us financially until I'm finished with school and you have the shop back in order. It's really no trouble, he's assured me-"

"No, Hermione," he grumbled frustratedly, letting his head fall into his hands as he did so, "I am fully capable of paying for my own bloody house."

"Fred, it's going to cost a lot to get your shop back up and running." she reminded him wearily, "I just don't want you coming up short-"

" _Hermione._ " he snapped, stomping his foot and making the room shake slightly, " _Please._ "

Shocked by his aggressive reaction, she stood, throwing her purse over her shoulder, "I think it's time we go home. I'll see you at the Burrow." she said, apparating soon thereafter.

Hermione hated fighting with Fred. It was one of those things that she didn't think she would ever be able to get used to. He was always one to carry with him so much light and joy that on the occasion when he would snap, it would take almost anyone, especially her, entirely by surprise.

"What are you doing up here?" Ginny asked, shocked to see Hermione sitting on her bed, reading from one of the books that she always carried her.

"Hiding." she murmured, wiping away the stray tear.

Ginny took a seat beside her friend, her concern evident, "What happened? I thought you and Fred were going shopping for homes today."

"We did, we did. It - had to be cut short. I may have pushed a bit too hard. I think he's mad at me at the moment. I just wanted to give him time to...cool off...before I went in and tried to say something."

Ginny sat in silence for a moment, contemplating her options in the circumstances which has presented themselves, "Hermione, I'm going to tell you something that may sound awful, but I think you're going to thank me for it later."

"What's that?" she asked pathetically.

"Get over yourself." the younger girl reprimanded, "You are sitting up here, all alone, because you _may_ have upset your bloody boyfriend."

"He's my fiance, actually-" Hermione tried to correct.

"I don't bloody care what he is. You go wipe your nose, pull up your big girl bloomers, and go talk to him." she commanded, shoving Hermione to her feet, "I'm going to leave now, because I just came up here to get my jacket - I'm got to Diagon Alley with Harry - and when I come back, you two had better be happy as clams. Is that understood."

"Yes, ma'am." Hermione chided, looking into the mirror on the wall and collecting herself as Ginny made her way to the door.

As Hermione made her way down the hall to the room that Fred and George formerly shared, she braced herself for the worst. She realized that she'd struck a nerve at the townhouse and wanted to tread lightly around the subject for that reason. The door to the room hung open, but Hermione knocked anyway, announcing her presence. He sat similarly to how she had only moments earlier - on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

"Can I come in?" she asked sheepishly.

He looked up, only for a moment to give her a quick nod. Silently, she knelt down in front of him, taking his hands in both of hers and resting them in his lap, "I'm sorry about today. I didn't mean for it to end like that. I just...saw the house...and got carried away."

"I know." he murmured, sniffling quietly, "It's not your fault."

"What is it that's been bothering you, Fred? Every time we've gone out looking for place to live, you just get more and more...like you are now."

"I'm just tired, Hermione. It'll pass." he assured her, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze.

"I don't think that's everything, though, is it?" she asked, trying to catch his gaze, "You know you can tell me whatever it is that's bothering you. If it's me-"

His eyes shot up then, a tinge of hurt in them, "Of course it isn't _you._ "

"Well, what is it, then?" she persisted, "I know you're going to feel better once you tell me what it is. You always do."

"I just - don't want to worry you with it." he admitted, "I don't want you to be worried about something you can't control."

"Fred, do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?" she questioned, the slightest hint of a smile teasing at her lips, "I am going to be your _wife_." she whispered that last word, as if it were a secret between them, "Now is not the time to start keeping things from me."

He nodded his head reluctantly, finally conceding, "To be honest with you...I'm worried about the money."

" _Fred,_ " she gasped silently, her heart breaking for him. It felt as though she'd had the wind knocked out of her; she'd been rendered speechless.

"Before the last bit of the war, we were finally in a place - George and I - for the first time in our lives, where we didn't have to worry about money. We had enough for what we needed and then plenty to save. And now we're right back to where we started. We've got no shop, no form of income...most of what we had saved was taken when Gringott's was looted. Hermione, I can't afford to buy you a ring, or a nice house, or any of the things that you _deserve_ to have."

"It's not the end of the world." she tried to reason, combing a hand through his hair to try to calm him.

He simply shook his head, though, "Hermione, in four months I'm going to be your husband. I'm supposed to be able to _provide_ for you and-"

"Frederick Gideon Weasley, you look at me right now." she commanded, taking his face in her hands, "I do _not_ need a big house or a fancy ring, do you understand me? We can live in the flat above the shop. We could live in this room. Right here. We could live in a _bloody_ cardboard box in Diagon Alley, for all I care." she joked, earning a half-chuckle from Fred, "None of that _matters_ to me. What matters is that we're going to be _married._ And you're going to be my husband. The rest we can figure out later."

A true smile spread his face then, as he took her hands once more, "I love you, Granger." he said then, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead, "And I'm sorry."

"Me, too." she whispered, standing up, reaching to kiss his lips.


	11. The One With the Parents

"You know, we _really_ don't have to do this, if you don't want to." Hermione blabbed, as they stood at the end of the street, staring down a familiar cul de sac to her childhood home, "I'm sure they'd be just fine with meeting you later...on the wedding day, perhaps."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were embarrassed to introduce me to your parents, Granger." he chuckled heartily.

She rolled her eyes, taking his hand in hers, "It's the other way around, trust me. For dentists, they are remarkably...spirited."

"Dentists..."

"Their work. They tend to people's teeth."

"That sounds bloody boring."

"It is, believe me."

"Is that my Hermione I see?" a middle-aged woman called from her doorstep three houses down.

"She must've been waiting at the window." she grumbled, plastering on a fake smile and waving back, "Hi, Mum!" she called back.

"Is this _him?_ " her mother guffawed as she approached.

"Fred Weasley." he introduced, holding his hand out in introduction, shocked when she went in for a hug.

"Hermione," her mother gushed, "he's so tall! And _so_ handsome. Moreso than you described, even!" Blush rose up Hermione's neck at her mother's chosen conversation topic, "Well, I've just put out some lunch. Why don't we head inside."

Once Hermione's mother was out of earshot, Fred lean down to murmur in his fiance's ear, "Exactly _how_ is it you described me, then?"

"Shut up." Hermione giggled, slapping at his forearm.

Hermione's mother flung the door open harshly, letting it bash against the wall behind it, "John? John, they're here!" she called, knocking on the door to his study, "Get out here!"

Soon enough, the door to the study flew open, revealing a rather small-statured man, fixing his glasses. Once they were sufficiently situated, he beamed brightly, "Look at you kids. It feels like I haven't seen you in ages. Come here, Hermione." he muttered, pulling his daughter into a hug.

"This is Fred." Hermione introduced. To his relief, Mr. Granger took his hand in greeting rather than trying for a hug like his wife,

"We'd better get into the kitchen. Your mum's got lunch already on the table. We'll talk after." Mr. Granger said pointedly to Fred.

"So what is it you do for a living, Fred?" Mr. Granger asked, once they were all settled in at the table with a full plate in front of them.

Hermione gave him a jab in the ribs to remind him not to say anything _smart, "_ I run a joke shop, along with my brother George."

"Where are you two living now? I assume you haven't moved in together. Hermione would've told us if you had."

"We both live with my parents now. Three of my brothers and my sister live their right now along with a few family friends who are passing through. We'll be moving out after we're married, though. There's a flat overtop the shop I run, and we're planning on moving there."

"This shop of yours...do you make enough?" Mr. Granger asked, "Is there a huge market for things like this?"

" _Dad!_ "

"We'll have what we need, Mr. Granger." Fred interjected, his calm attitude taking Hermione by surprise.

Mrs. Granger contemplated her next thought for only a moment before the unimaginable came out of her mouth, "Lots of space in the flat, I hope? For the grandchildren?"

Fred choked, his spoon clattering to the floor as Hermione's eyes bulged in utter disbelief, "Merlin, Mum!" she spluttered, "You've only just _met_ Fred five minutes ago."

"Yeah, let's not go pinning all of your hopes and dreams on us just yet." Fred chuckled, averting his eyes from his still expectant in-laws. It was his luck, of course, that when he ducked to grab his spoon from the floor where it had fallen, on his way back up, he bashed his head.

After that there was very little chatter. The four of them made quick work of their lunch, and then Fred and Mr. Granger made their way back out into the living room, "Help me clear the table, Hermione?" her mother asked, once the men were out of the room.

"Were you trying to embarrass us or did we just get lucky?" Hermione asked with a twinge of hostility in her voice, "Asking if we were going to have children," she scoffed, "to be frank with you, Mother, we've never actually discussed it. Our relationship has never called for us to have the _need_ for that discussion."

"Well, Hermione, it's a legitimate concern that your father and I have. You _are_ our only child-"

"I don't have the time to think about _that_ yet, Mother. I'm going back to school in September. Fred is busy with the shop. We're all running around like mad trying to get things ready for the wedding...we just do not have the time to start thinking about a family of any kind."

"Then I've got one question for you, Dear." she turned, looking slightly saddened, "Have you _really_ thought about whether or not this is the right time for you to be getting married? Even without a family to worry about...it's a big commitment. That's going to be a lot of time apart, with you at school and him at work. Even when you will have the chance to see him on holiday, he'll have that shop of his to run-"

"It'll be difficult, for sure, but not impossible. We've been through far worse." _I would've taken a curse for him._ she told herself, though she would never say it out loud to her mother, "Look, Mum, I love him. That's enough for me."

"It's obvious you do, Hermione. Don't take it the wrong way, but I saw the way you looked at him, as you were walking down the street. You look positively stupid."

"I beg your pardon?"

Hermione's mother threw her hands up in defense, "My mother told me the same thing about how your dad and I used to look at each other. I'll tell you, I never really knew what she meant until I saw the same look on your face. It's like...the whole world could be crumbling around you and you all would just hold on to each other and hope for the best."

 _If only your knew._

"I'll tell you, that's the best kind of love to be in."

"You know," Hermione murmured, dumping the last of the dishes into the sink, "Fred and I are meant to meet up with his sister and Harry in about an hour, so we should probably get going soon."

"For what it's worth, I _do_ like him, Hermione. I think you make him happy and I think he makes you positively giddy." Hermione couldn't help but blush at her mother's astute observation, "I think your dad is probably finishing up with Fred now, so if it _really_ is time for you all to go..."

"I think it is Mum. I'll see you in a few weeks for the fittings." Hermione said, pulling her mother in for a hug, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Honey. Come visit us whenever you want. Don't wait this long next time. We miss you."

"I'll try to do better about it." Hermione promised, pushing the door to the living room open, to see her father and Fred shaking hands and exchanging pats on the back, "Are you ready? We need to catch up with Ginny and Harry."

"Mr. Granger, thank you." Fred murmured, shaking the older man's hand one more time before making his way to the door, "And thank you for lunch, Mrs. Granger. I look forward to doing this again." he said with a smile.

"Stop by anytime, both of you." Mrs. Granger called as they made their way out the door. Hermione's parents both stood out on the porch and watched as Fred and Hermione made their way down the street, to the secluded patch of trees down at the end of the street where they would apparate from.

"Sorry about them today." Hermione murmured that night once the two of them had settled into their spot on the roof. The sky was pitch black, but the overcast skies did not give way for any stars, "I know that they can be a lot to handle."

"They really weren't that bad. They're quite friendly, actually."

"Sometimes they can be a bit _too_ friendly." Hermione rolled her eyes, "I wasn't expecting them to ask about your work. I can't believe they would be that _rude._ "

Fred turned onto his side to face her then, letting a hand rest on her waist, "They weren't being _rude,_ Hermione. They're just worried about you. And they have a right to be."

"But _why,_ though? I don't understand why they had to act like that."

"Well, for one thing. They don't know me. I literally walked into their lives, said _hi, I'm marrying your daughter,_ and then went right along with my business. All things considered, wouldn't you say they took it rather well?"

"Since when are you the logical one?" she murmured, pushing herself up on her elbow to kiss him quickly, "Can I ask you something?"

"'Course." he stated, lying back down and staring up into the black of nighttime.

"What Mum said...got me thinking. Have you ever thought about children?" she asked nervously.

"It's a bit early for that, don't you think?"

"I thought so," she admitted, "but then I realized that we are the same age your parents were when they started thinking about this kind of thing. I hadn't given much thought to it until Mum mentioned grandchildren."

"And what's your verdict?"

"I have no idea." she admitted, "I don't know if I even want to be a mum. The thought of it terrifies me, if I'm being honest."

"Scares me too." he agreed, "I remember the hellions George and I used to be. I tell you, I wouldn't wish that upon anyone."

"Well isn't that reassuring." she chided.

He sighed, rolling onto his stomach and throwing an arm across her waist, "We aren't even married yet, Darling. Why should we worry about all of that yet?" she went rigid then, a fact that he caught right off the bat, "Did I say something?" he asked quickly thereafter.

"You called me 'Darling'. I don't think you've _ever_ called me by anything but my name."

"Sorry," he grumbled, feeling a blush creep to his cheeks, "Won't happen again."

"No, it's not that." she chuckled, "I just didn't take you as one who _liked_ that sort of thing. Keep using it, though. I think I rather like it."


	12. The One With the Wedding

"Take a breath," Fred commanded, holding up a hand to silence her, though he could barely lift it about waist-level, " _Make it up as you go._ " he reminded her. And for some forlorn reason, it seemed to calm her. Hermione noddd, as he gripped her hand tighter, "Look at me and tell me you don't want to do it, and I'll never mention it again." he finally said, "I won't pester you about it anymore and we'll do this the normal way. We'll date for a few years and then see what happens. Or, we can start now."

Hermione's eyes darted back and forth between Fred who watched her expectantly and Percy, who had a look a utter shock on his face. It was evident that this was not what he was expecting this meeting to turn into.

Collecting herself for all of a split second, she closed her eyes, trying to think logically, though clearly he'd made his mark on her. One thought whirred through her mind, seemingly on repeat: _Make it up as you go._

Finally, she opened her eyes, bringing herself face-to-face with Fred, who seemed to become more and more concerned by the moment. She'd clearly gone too long without responding, "I'm going to say _yes._ " she murmured tentatively, earning what could only be described as a grin of sheer giddiness from Fred, "I have some conditions, though."

"Oh boy." he scoffed jokingly.

"I want a six-month engagement period, during which time we'll _date_ like normal, sensible people. And secondly, I don't want to live above the joke shop. It's too small and I'm not going to make your brother leave _his_ flat on my account. Seem fair?"

"Works for me. God almighty, I wish I could kiss you right now." he beemed.

"Yes, well, judging by the state you're in, I'd say that _that_ probably isn't going to happen for a while." she sighed, "Oh, and Percy, you never actually told us if you'd be able to do the ceremony."

It was then that Fred's elder brother broke into a huge smile. Hermione could've sworn she saw a tear building up in the corner of his eyes, "I'd consider it an honor."

The two visitors sat around Fred's cot, as they all laughed and chatted over the most mundane things they could think of, until finally Madame Pumphrey appeared with George at her side, "Let's give the brothers a moment and then we have to close the ward for the night." she said, fiddling with some remedies on a table nearby, "You two get a move on." she commanded, causing Hermione and Percy to nearly jump to their feet.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Hermione said, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, before standing to follow Percy out of the room.

Percy had clearly taken his part in the wedding to the farthest extreme. There he stood, in front of the congregation of friends and family members, in his Ministry-approved dress robes with his pre-approved text in hand. Surely enough, for however nervous the groom was, the officiator seemed to be twice that.

"I've never done this before, Fred." he murmured, as he and the groom waited off to the side of the stage for their cue from the mother-of-the-groom (who had taken the planning of the event upon herself), "Merlin, I'm going to ruin your wedding." he guffawed, fanning his face.

"Leave it to me to choose an officiator who gets bloody _stage fright._ " Fred grumbled under his breath, whacking his brother upside the head, quite literally smacking him out of it, "Pull yourself together." he snapped, "Judging by what Ginny's told me, Hermione's nervous enough for all three of us. All you have to do is read off the bloody parchment."

"Yeah, yeah." Percy nodded haphazardly, flattening the collar of his dress robes, "You're right, Fred. Thanks."

"Looks like the girls are just about ready to go. Whenever we're ready, they said." George stated, returning from his check-up on the girls, "Mum says we're good to go." he said, giving his brother a clap on the shoulder, "You ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George." he nodded, "You first, Perce." he said, practically having to shover his brother out in front of the altar. Fred and George were soon to follow.

As they watched the door open to reveal the bridesmaids, George leaned over to his brother nonchalantly to whisper, "She looks gorgeous, by the way."

"She always does; I'm not surprised." he scoffed.

"No, I don't think you understand-"

They both fell silent as all in attendance stood to watch the bride come down the aisle. It was true. Fred was entirely gobsmacked. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and had to cover his mouth in order to hide the slight quiver of his lips.

He watched as Hermione seemingly cascaded down the aisle on her father's arm. In her dress and veil, she looked like an angel. He could barely contain himself as he stood, watching as marched ever-closer.

She beamed at Fred, and then around the tent, taking in their surroundings. It really was just what she'd hoped for. As she arrived at the end of the aisle, Fred took her hand and led her back up to the altar to face their officiant.

"You look stunning." he whispered.

"This veil is making me sweat." she replied, causing him to have to stifle his laughter, "Are you nervous?"

"Not as nervous as Percy." he murmured back, causing her to have to stifle her own laughter then. She took in the appearance of their officiant. He was sweating profusely - dress robes in the dead of summer were not a good plan, he'd come to find. As well, he was turning blotchy from his bout of stage fright. It was truly a sight to behold and he certainly helped take the edge off for the bride-to-be.

Minutes flew by, as the two cracked jokes at Percy's expense, trying to ignore the miserable heat of the summer day. Soon enough, the ceremony was at its end and Percy held their rings in his hand.

"And now, as I understand it, the bride and groom have provided their own vows…We'll start with the bride." he said, giving way for them to take over.

"Fred Weasley," Hermione sighed, taking his hands in both of hers, "where to begin..." she chuckled, shaking her head, "I thought about what I was going to say when we got to this part. I had it all written out nice and neat. I think I even tried to throw a joke in there, but it didn't feel right. So, I'm going to do what you've been trying to get me to do since the very beginning. I'm going to make it up."

That earned her a chuckle from the crowd, "Fred," she continued, looking down at their linked hands, "for three years, you've been my confidante and my best friend. You taught me that not everything I need to know can be found in a book and you accepted me when I was at my lowest point…and I'm the best version of myself when I'm with you." Her eyes welled up and a smile spread across her face then, "You're my soulmate and I promise to love you for as long as I can."

Fred let out a nervous chuckle, digging through his jacket pockets until he managed to find a folded bit of parchments, "I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to remember all I wanted to say once I got up here, so I wrote it down."

Hermione let out a giggle as she took in the half-page of jotted chicken-scratch he held in his hand, "Hermione, you are the light of my life and for that reason, I make these vows to you. I vow to always find time to talk to you about your day, even if it was a bad one. I vow to make you smile every day, even if it _is_ at my own stupidity. I vow that, for us, everyday will be an adventure and we'll make it up as we go. I vow...that the roof will always be our place...and that you will always be my person..."

By that point, Hermione had tears streaming down her face in steady lines, "And," Fred said with finality, taking Hermione's ring from Fred's hand, "I promise to love you with everything I have...for as long as I can."

After the exchange of rings, Percy took a step back up onto the altar, raising a hand to quiet the excited crowd, "It is my pleasure to introduce, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Gideon Weasley." he called, as the crowd of family and friends burst into applause and Hermione and Fred shared their first kiss.

Together, they exited the tent at a sprint, their wedding party in tow. Once inside the entrance of the Burrow, they were finally able to catch their breath, "We did it." Hermione cheered in realization, throwing her arms around his neck, "Fred, we're _married._ "

"You two had me in tears." Fleur gushed, "What a beautiful ceremony; just perfect."

Ginny came walking by then, a shocked expression on her face, "Hermione, you can't go out to your reception looking like that! You've cried your mascara half way down your face!" she sighed in disbelief, "Come with me. I'll get you squared away."

"But-" Hermione whined. She'd been married for a total of thirty seconds and she was already being ushered away from her husband. She didn't like it.

"He'll be here when you get back." Ginny assured, "Come along, now."

After a quick freshening of her makeup, Hermione was back out to join their friends and family as they all gathered around two massive banquet tables, preparing for the meal, "This is bound to be the longest meal of your life." Fred grumbled, taking his seat beside Hermione.

"Brace yourself; we've got a full night of wedding festivities ahead." Hermione laughed in return, giving a great yawn as the day's events began to catch up to her, "I'm exhausted."

"Same." he admitted, leaning forward to rest his chin in the palm of his hand, "How many speeches are we supposed to be hearing before dinner?" he asked concernedly.

"Well, there's the best man, maid of honor, my mother and father, your father, I think, and-"

"Bloody hell; this is going to take forever, isn't it?"

"It'll be over before you know it. After dinner, we'll only have to stay for a few minutes, I'd say." she offered hopefully, "At least you know there's a light at the end of this tunnel."

"You and I both know that we're not leaving until Ginny is too drunk to realize we've gone." he chuffed.

Hermione smacked his arm lightly, "Don't laugh too hard. She put this entire wedding together. She's got everything running on a schedule and, you know, if it's one less thing I have to worry about, then I'm all for Ginny going wedding crazy."

"If I could have your attention, please!" Ginny finally called, over the room full of chatter, standing and clanking her knife against her champagne flute, "I just wanted to thank all of our guests for attending tonight's event. It means a lot that all of you have taken the time out of your schedules to give your love and support to this wonderful couple sitting at the head of the table tonight."

All heads turned then, causing Fred to beam and duck his head and Hermione to blush as their several dozen guests cheered loudly for them, "And as I am the maid of honor and I'm not too horribly wasted yet, I thought I would start with my speech."

"Oh, bloody hell, here we go." Fred chuckled, taking Hermione's hand and settling in for the

long haul.


	13. The One With the Brother

p id="docs-internal-guid-af54e39a-98b5-3ba4-66a9-e3ee2cfc65e9" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Hermione watched as Fred swayed back and forth with the young Gabrielle balancing precariously on his toes. She'd had her fill of dancing hours prior, but he kept on going into the early hours of the morning./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""How are you doing, Hermione?" Luna asked, sliding in to sit next to the bride at the long banquet table, staring out at the dancers, "They're lovely aren't they?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Why aren't you dancing, Luna?" Hermione asked, turning to face her friend./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"She stared off into the crowd dazedly, a small smile creeping onto her face, "Neville's gone to get us drinks. I think he's done dancing for tonight as well. You look like you're finished for tonight. Do you want me to tell your guests to leave?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Hermione chuckled appreciatively. Leave it to Luna Lovegood to be so forward, "There's no need, Luna. It's fine."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I'd say it's more than fine, actually." Luna reasoned, "It's six months exactly since the end of the war. If there were different circumstances, most of these people would still be mourning the dead, but instead they're here, celebrating life. I'd say that's a pretty big achievement."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I - I didn't think of it that way, Luna. Thank you." Hermione smiled, utterly befuddled. Luna never ceased to amaze Hermione with her quirky-yet-heartfelt sense of reason./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Soon after, Luna stood and maneuvered herself to the next table over, where she took up a seat next to Harry. The two had grown incredibly close since the end of the war. Hermione reckoned it was due to their being prisoners together at Malfoy Manor, but then again, Hermione and Harry had both always had a soft-spot for the dreamy girl./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Mind if I sit here just a minute?" George asked, taking the seat that Luna had occupied only moments earlier./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Anything I can do for you, George? I would've figured you would've been behind a tree with one of Fleur's beautiful cousins at this point." Hermione joked./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Ah, no. I've had just about enough pomp and circumstance for one night, though. I think I'm going to turn in shortly. It's going to be weird, you know? Going back to the flat without Fred, I mean."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""We're only going to be gone for a few weeks, George. We'll be back by early Fall at the latest. Surely you can make due without us for that amount of time?" she giggled, giving him a rap across the shoulder./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He shook his head. It was clear he'd had a bit too much to drink, "I know how this is going to go, though. It's all hypothetical now, but soon enough you two find some cute little cottage of your own on the outskirts of London and I'll only be seeing Fred on birthdays and holidays."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Fred is not going to let that happen." she smiled, taking his hand in her own, "It's just not. If it makes you feel any better, you're welcome by our hypothetical cottage anytime. Day or night."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Thanks, Hermione. You're so nice; you know that?" he slurred, his head beginning to droop./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I think it might be time for you to head off to bed, wouldn't you say?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Do you need help over here?" Fleur questioned, coming to give the bride a reprieve./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I think he's finished for the night." Hermione chuckled, helping George to his feet, "Could you make sure he gets to his room?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Of course."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Goodnight, George."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""'Mione, I think Bill and I are going to get on our way shortly as well, so if we don't see you before then...goodbye and congratulations again." Fleur murmured, as she headed back into the house, leaving Hermione on her own once again./span/p 


	14. The One With the Bad Roommate

p id="docs-internal-guid-af54e39a-993d-3e26-bded-87eaf52c9aee" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Fred, I don't think I can take much more of this." Hermione snapped as she whirled around the couch in their flat, tidying the incredible mess that her new husband's brother had managed to leave behind on his way out the door to work that morning, "I know we agreed that we'd stay here for at least a year, but I just can't do this anymore, Fred. I'm serious."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""What do you want me to do, Hermione? I can't just go out today and find us a flat." he grumbled, pulling a trash bag out from underneath of the sink, "I still don't understand why we can't just do this the fast and painless way. Why do we have to clean this all up by hand?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Because maybe, just /spanspan style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"maybe, /spanspan style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"in cleaning by hand at least one of you will learn some responsibility and help me with the house work from time to time." she shouted in frustration as a glass bottle hit the floor with a loud shatter./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I know you're frustrated, 'Mione, but what can I do?" he questioned, helping to pick up the mess of unfolded clothes and left over miscellaneous food items that had been left in George's wake that morning, "Nothing I say to him seems to be making any difference. He seems to be pretty well stuck in his ways."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""Well his ways are disgusting." she growled, throwing a half-drenched towel into the hamper that she'd dragged in from her room, "It's ridiculous. I cook, I clean...I do everything around here and then he comes parading through like a bull in a china shop at three in the morning with whatever flavor of strumpet he's into that day and he just destroys everything in his path. Maybe if he actually lifted a finger to help it would be different, but-"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"In her fit of rage she hadn't noticed Fred drop what he was doing. Silently, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle, letting his chin rest on her shoulder, "I hear you." he assured, kissing her on the cheek, "I know you're mad. This isn't fair to you. You work hard at the Ministry everyday and the least you deserve is to come home to a clean flat. I'll talk to him one more time."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I know I'm overreacting, Fred, but I just can't help it. It's like this everyday. And I'm sure it's not made better by the fact that I just really wish we had a place of our own." she admitted, "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me." she admitted, collapsing onto the couch in an exhausted heap./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"He took up a spot next to her, letting a hand rest comfortingly on her leg, "I know this isn't ideal. I know that. But you've also got to remember that George means well in everything that he does. It's just that sometimes he forgets things are different now."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I have no idea how you two functioned before I came along, if I'm being entirely honest." Hermione chuckled./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"Fred let out a sigh, a wry smile spreading across his face, "I had to be the responsible one from time to time, if you can believe it."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I'm not sure if I can." she laughed back, resting her head on his shoulder./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""What if we went somewhere for a few days? Just the two of us, to get away from work and this flat. I'll book us a hotel. Anywhere you want."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""No, Fred. you don't have to do that." she sighed./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I want to.. We're both a little overwhelmed and we need a break so I'm booking us a hotel. Three days. Where do you want to go?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"She took barely more than a second to think before a smile spread across her face, "Well, Ginny told me about this place that she and Harry visited in Switzerland. I think it was called Vas Village. It's supposed to be the best resort in the area."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Garamond; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;""I'll see what I can do." he agreed, "Now, you go pour yourself a bath and I'll take care of the rest of this mess." Fred insisted, leaning in to kiss Hermione quickly before sending her on her way./span/p 


	15. The One With the Morning Sickness

"Do you want me to call a doctor for you, Hermione?" Fred asked, as he held her hair back away from her face with one hand and rubbed circles on her back with the other. For the last weeks or so Hermione had fallen horribly ill and initially she'd thought that it might have been some sort of food poisoning. She'd soon learn, though, that that was not the case.

"Don't bother with a doctor. I went to St. Mungo's earlier on in the week." she groaned, letting her sweaty forehead rest against the porcelain bowl, "Owl Neville. Maybe there's some sort of herbal remedy that I haven't tried yet. You do that and I'll get myself 're expecting me at the Ministry at quarter of nine."

"Quarter of nine? You've got to be joking, Hermione. You're sick as a dog. I'll owl your department and let them know you're taking the rest of the week off."

She shook her head, causing another wave of nausea, "You don't have to do that, Fred; I promise. Just get in touch with Neville. See if there's anything I haven't tried yet."

"Alright," he nodded, "I'll do my best to get in touch, but you have to promise that, at least for today, you'll brush your teeth, go back to bed, and let me take care of you. George can manage the shop by himself for today."

"Fred-" she whined as he lifted her up and put her back to bed.

"No, don't _Fred_ me today. Lay down and I'm going to make you something to eat. What do you want? Soup-"

"Merlin's sake, Fred, would you listen to me for one _second._ " she snapped back in utter frustration, "Are you telling me, in all honesty, that you _truly believe_ that I've got food poisoning?" she questioned after he fell into silence, a tinge of humor creeping its way into her voice, "Come on, Fred. I know you know."

"You know that I know _what?_ " he questioned in utter bafflement, still standing in the doorway of their room.

"You really don't know." she chuckled, letting her head fall back against the pillows, "Fred, we're going to have a baby." she murmured, a small smile still playing at the corners of her lips as she watched him reel.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I know you hate it when I do this, but it sounds almost as though you said we're-"

"-having a baby?" she repeated, her eyes lighting up at the utter excitement on his face then.

"We're having a baby?" he asked again in utter shock, kneeling down beside her on the floor so that they were then at eye level.

"We're having a baby." she repeated, a bright smile spreading across her face as he took her into a tight hug, "I wasn't sure how you'd take it. I've known for a few days now. It took everything I had to keep it a secret, Fred...are you happy?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I'm happy." he beamed, "Merlin, would you believe it? I'm going to be a dad." he cheered, collapsing next to Hermione in a heap, "I wonder who they'll look more like." he murmured, pulling up the hem of her shirt and tracing mindless circles around the skin there, "I bet they'll look just like you."

"They?" she questioned, half amused, half petrified, "What makes you think there's going to be more than one? We can't handle more than one – we won't even be able to handle the one!"

"They're going to be twins. Just you wait and see." he chuckled.

"There's one more thing I wanted to mention before we get too far into this, though." she warned, sitting up and pushing her hair out of her face, "I know you'd feel better with me going to St. Mungo's. I know your family favors it over traditional Muggle medicine...but I'd like to go to a doctor that my mother recommended."

"Hermione, you know that if something were to go wrong, Mungo's would be the best place for you to-"

"I know that you believe that, Fred. Really, I do. But the bottom line is that I'd feel better in a Muggle facility. And not just that. If we were to use Mungo's for all of our pediatric care, my parents wouldn't have the chance to be involved. They probably wouldn't even be able to see the baby until it's almost a week old. I want them to be able to see their grandchild on its first day, to be in the delivery room if they wanted. That's just not a reality if we were to do this through Mungo's. Are you starting to understand-"

"You know what?" he smiled, letting his head rest in her lap, "I'm going to trust that you know what the best decision is for you and I'll support you." he agreed.

"Don't you think it's strange that we're going to be the first ones to be parents?" she chuckled, pushing her husband's bangs out of his face with her fingertips, " _You_ and _me_ are going to be the parents of the first Weasley grandbaby. Isn't that weird to think about?"

"Mum's going to lose her mind when we tell her. Speaking of which, when do you reckon we should do that?"

"I've got a plan, but it's kind of mad. It's going to be a surprise." she remarked, a dubious smile spreading across her face.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her effort. Though he knew she meant well, a surprise in Hermione Granger's book, he knew, would consist of nothing more than pastel-colored dinner napkins or a photograph sent through Muggle post. Nonetheless, he nodded along as her excitement grew, "Why don't you tell me about this plan of yours when I get back? Right now, I'm going to write that letter to Neville and see if we can't get you something for the nausea."

"You're so good to me." she lamented, collapsing back into bed once more.


	16. The One With the Move Back Home

"Fred, we need to talk about what we're going to do once the baby comes." Hermione said as she sat down at the counter. Fred had insisted on making her dinner that night and she wasn't about to break his heart by telling him how truly awful his cooking was. It was one of the few thins he took sincere pride in.

The two of them had managed to maneuver around talking about the big questions for nearly four months. After the initial shock and excitement of their big news, Hermione was struck with fear. She didn't know the first thing about babies and was always the first to admit that she'd never intended to have any of her own. At least, that had been the plan before she and Fred had married. He'd been so excited over the past months. Hermione never would have guessed that one of the Weasley twins would have been this happy to be a father. She wasn't about to admit that she sat at her desk in her office everyday, unable to focus because of the crippling fear over what she was about to face.

Hermione had figured the best way to deal with the fear would be to push it aside for the time being, and deal with it when the time was right. Their biggest efforts thus far had been in getting the joke shop back up and running to its full capacity. It had taken everybody they knew and countless hours to get the shop back up to where it had been before the war, but finally, it was time to reopen. After all seemed to be right with the shop, finally, Hermione figured it was time to start discussing. Things were going to start moving fast and she knew they needed to have a plan in place.

"I've been looking at flats, Hermione. Now that the shop is open...We'll have something in line before the baby comes."

"I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say, Fred, but I need you to think about it _rationally_ because I've been thinking on for a week and I think it makes the most sense for us." After his nod, she jumped right in, her stomach doing back flips as she awaited his inevitable frustration, "It was suggested to me, by your mother...that we go to stay at the Burrow for a while."

"How long is a while?" he asked, sitting down next to her at his own place setting.

"About a year." she admitted.

" _Hermione._ " he grumbled, "Are you really considering this?"

"I think it's a good idea, Fred. I really do. I think it'll be good for all of us."

"How do you figure?"

"I just think...you know, your mum and Ginny will both be there. Your mum can teach me how to do this. She even said she'd watch the baby during the day so I could go back to work sooner. We can stay in your old room. There'll be plenty of space. It sounds ideal, really."

"Hermione, we are _not_ going to live with my family for a year." he stated, his tone dry, "They've done enough for you and me. We can handle this by ourselves."

"Don't you think your mother would like the opportunity to get to know her grandchild? You hear her say it, the same as I do, every time we come around. _It's not the same without kids in the house._ Don't you think this would be good for her as well?"

"If I'm being entirely honest, Hermione, I don't care if Mum missing having kids around the house, I am not taking anymore from my parents than I already have. We're staying at the flat."

"Fred, it's not like we're going to be living there forever. It's just until we get used to it being not _just_ us anymore." Hermione snapped, averting her eyes as tears began to well up, "You know what? Thank you for dinner. I think I'm going to finish in our room." she mumbled, pushing her seat away quickly and marching away before he was able to catch sight of her swollen eyes.

It wasn't until an hour later than he finally brought up the courage to knock on the bedroom door, pushing it open only slightly, "Hermione, can I talk to you?" he whispered.

"I'd rather not right now. Can we talk in the morning?"she asked softly, her voice cracking.

When he pushed the door open further, the first thing he noticed was her puffy eyes. It was clear she'd been crying, "Hermione, I'm sorry."

"I know you are. I know you're sorry and I know you're stressed. That's not why I'm crying." she mumbled, sitting up from where she had been laying buried under a pile of blankets, "It's this baby, Fred. It's making me crazy." her lip quivered as her eyes welled up once more.

"What do you mean? I thought you were excited." he questioned, his heart breaking for her, "I didn't know-"

"I know you didn't. I worked really hard to make sure you didn't know." she sniffed, looking away from his direction, "I don't think I can do this, Fred."

"Hermione, you're not making any sense. Tell me what's going on."

"I don't know how to be a mother, Fred. I certainly never learned from my mother. I mean, she's a wonderful person and I love her, but she wasn't around. She was so busy at her practice...I had a nanny. Being a part of a family like yours is something that I always wanted and never got growing up and I just thought that the baby-"

"Okay, Hermione. You're panicking." he murmured, taking her hand tightly between his own, causing him to snap out of it, "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

She wiped the tears away from her face in frustration, "I didn't tell you, Fred, because you were so excited. You're so excited to be a dad. I didn't want to ruin it for you."

"And it would make you feel better to move back to my parents' house?" he asked, rubbing comforting circles on her back, "The only reason I said no was because of how much my family has done for us. Not just you and me, but all of us. They open up their home to anyone and everybody and you never see them asking for anything.

"I promised myself for a long time that I wouldn't _take_ anymore than I had to. They have so little already."

"I know." she admitted, "It's not like we wouldn't be contributing, Fred. We'll help to cook and clean and we can even pay for the room if that would make you feel better, but I am _telling_ you, I need this."

"Okay. Then we'll leave at the beginning of the week." he nodded in agreement, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead, "It's going to be okay."

"Yeah, I know." she sniffed, letting her head rest against his chest.

"Then why are you still crying?"

"Because I can't think straight and you're in charge now and that scares me." she laughed through her tears at her own joke.

He rolled his eyes, giving her a shake as he laughed right along with her, "Shut up."

With that, the two of them collapsed into their own bed for one of their final nights of restful sleep before moving back home.


	17. The One With the Good Old Times

"Looks like we're all moved in, then." Hermione said with relief, collapsing onto the floor in an exhausted heap, "Consider us moved in."

"I'd forgotten how many discontinued things we kept in here." Fred noted, picking up the first box he came across, pulling an Extendable Ear from inside of the box, "Look at this thing. Quite possibly the most useless piece of garbage we ever manufactured." he chuckled, giving the thing a firm toss into the corner, "I didn't remember how much I missed this place."

"It's your childhood home. This is where everything happened for you. This is where you learned who you are."

"This is where I fell in love with you." he said off-handedly, still digging through piles of old merchandise. It thrilled her the way he said it, like it was no big deal. It was like he'd been in love with her their entire lives and it was so common at this point that it didn't require a special moment for it to be said.

It was about that same time that Molly called them all down for dinner. Just as Hermione had remembered from her days of summer stays with the Weasleys, countless redheads piled into the tiny kitchen, encircling the kitchen table in anticipation. The first thing she'd noticed was that there were more people around the table than she'd anticipated. Harry had come by for dinner; as did Percy and his new fiance Audrey. Save for the eldest two Weasley brothers, the entire family was there.

"Hello, Audrey. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." Hermione stated, taking her place at the table.

"It _has_ been ages." she conferred, "We haven't seen each other since the wedding."

The hustle around the table was comforting to Hermione. The bumping of shoulders and knees, quiet chatter between small groups and across the table, it was something she'd grown accustomed to over the years and the many meals she'd shared with the Weasleys in the past.

"That is a lovely dress you're wearing, by the way, Hermione." Ginny called from across the table, earning grunts of approval from several others as well.

"Thank you. My mother got it for me the other week when we went into London to do some shopping." she admitted, smiling as she passed along a bowl of asparagus.

Hermione settled into comfortable silence as she picked at her plate and listened in on the many conversations going on around her. Harry, Fred, Ginny, and Audrey planned a two-on-two Quidditch match for after dinner, while Percy and his father quietly discussed Ministry affairs at the other end of the table.

"I hear there's going to be a new Minister appointed quite soon." Hermione interjected, causing the two men to look up from their conversation.

"That's quite right, Hermione." Mr. Weasley nodded, "I've been told they'll be putting together a search committee of sorts to find the new Minister. They want someone from every department."

"Every department?"

"I suggested you be put on the committee, Hermione." Percy said quickly, "I don't know if they'll take you into consideration...or if you'd even want the job. But, at least now you've got the option."

She was so struck she could barely find the words to express what she wanted to say and after a moment of sputtering, she managed to grunt, "Thank you, Percy." A half smile raised at the corner of her lips.

"I personally couldn't think of anyone who would be better for the job." Mr. Weasley smiled at his daughter-in-law, "I'll have Kingsley put in a good word as well."

"Are we late?" a familiar voice came from around the corner, causing over a dozen heads to swivel and George appeared around the corner then, followed closely by Angelina Johnson.

Mrs. Weasley stood, pulling two extra chairs around the table for them, "Nonsense. We've just started. Have a seat. Make a plate."

"Thank you for having all of us, Mrs. Weasley." Angelina smiled as she sat at her place, "I don't think I could ever handle feeding this many people."

"It's what I'm good at, Dear. Having a full house makes me happy." she shrugged, "It's no trouble."

"Mrs. Weasley, my mother and I were planning to go out to London on the weekend to find a crib. Would you care to come with us?" Hermione asked, a twinge of excitement in her voice. She had to admit that buying for the baby was one of the things she'd probably enjoyed most about the past couple of months.

"Love to, Dear." she agreed quickly, "Now, everybody finish up. If I heard correctly, we're all to meet at the Quidditch pitch in an hour."


	18. The One With the Coincidence

"Look at her! Just look at her. She's so beautiful." Fred grinned admirably, leaning over top of Hermione to get a good look at the baby in her arms, "She looks just like you, Hermione."

"She does, doesn't she?" Hermione laughed through her exhausted tears.

"I'll give you two a moment." the doctor said, removing her gloves and leaving the room swiftly with the two nurses behind her, "Try to come up with a name for your little girl while we're gone, yeah?" the final nurse asked as she let the door shut quietly behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut, George turned back to Hermione, sitting against the edge of her hospital bed, "Well-"

"I want to name her Guinevere." Hermione blurted, not taking her eyes off of her daughter for a moment to take in Fred's reaction.

"That was fast." he chuckled, looping his arm around her shoulders again, "I think it's beautiful. What is it from?"

"Arthurian Legend. Guinevere was the Queen of Camelot. A born leader and a true beauty. I think it's perfect for the daughter of a Weasley." she admitted, giving the baby a smile as she opened her eyes for the first time, " _Look._ Oh, Fred, she's got your eyes." Hermione mused in awe.

"Guinevere Weasley." he agreed, "It's beautiful."

"I hear we've got a baby!" Mrs. Granger shouted, bursting through the door, taking the two young parents out of their reverie, "Where is she, then? Let me hold my granddaughter." she insisted, extending her arms out for the baby in Hermione's arms. She reluctantly handed her over, "Look at that cute little nose."

"We're going to name her Guinevere."

Just then, Ginny burst through the door causing all eyes to fall on her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for interrupting." she panted, out of breath from running up the stairs, "Fred, Hermione; you're not going to believe this. Fleur's just had the baby."

"You've got to be joking."

"She's over a month early." Hermione stated in disbelief.

"Well, be that as it may, she had the baby; a girl. The baby is totally healthy and Fleur asked to see the both of you if it isn't too early."

Hermione nodded, extending her arms out for help, "Alright, then. Fred, help me up." she murmured, grumbling at the sharp pain of the effort.

"Are you insane?" Fred guffawed in disbelief, "Hermione, you just had the baby an hour ago. You need to be resting. You're exhausted." he insisted, trying to put her back to bed.

"Fred, I'm fine. Just bring me a wheelchair. Bring me a wheelchair and give me my baby." she snapped, motioning to her mother to give her Guinevere.

He shook his head, "I don't think-"

"I'm going to see my niece. If you'd like to stay here, that's up to you." Hermione said with a tone of finality as Ginny brought her a wheelchair and her mother handed over Guinevere, "Wheel me out, Gin." she commanded once she had a good grip on the baby.

"This is mad." Fred mumbled under his breath, as the three of them rushed away, leaving Hermione's mother by herself in the hospital room.

"Here they are." Ginny announced, a huge smile on her face as the three of them burst into the room which was filled to the brim with red-heads, "Make some space so I can get the wheelchair up to the bed." she commanded, pushing Hermione like a battering ram through the onslaught of people, forcing them out of the way.

"Hello, Fleur." Hermione grinned, reaching up to pull the baby's blanket away from its face so that she could get a better look, "Who's this here?" she asked, excitement in her eyes.

"We'll call her Victoire."

"That's a beautiful name, Fleur." she smiled, running a finger over the baby's cheek, "I'm sorry. I just can't believe this." she chuckled, "You and me...having our babies on the same day in the same hospital?"

"Yes, it is quite the coincidence." the elder girl smiled in response, "We wanted to have you and Fred here to ask you a question, Hermione. Bill and I were wondering if you might consider being Victoire's godparents?"

"Godparents?" Fred asked, a quizzical look crossing his face.

"It would mean so much to me, Hermione." Fleur reasoned.

"I would be honored." Hermione nodded, "Thank you for thinking of us. Fred and I would be happy to, Fleur. Don't give it a second thought."

Fleur shook her head in slight embarrassment, letting the blush rise in her cheeks, "I wouldn't want anybody else to do the job, Hermione. Our girls are going to be the best of friends, aren't they?" she chuckled.

"Oh, yes. We'll make sure of that." Hermione laughed quietly, "And how are you, Bill?" she asked, turning her attention to the paler-than-usual man who sat slouched over the edge of Fleur's hospital bed.

He shook his head, pulling himself out of his daze, "I don't think the shock's quite worn off yet." her admitted, a smile plastered across his lips.

"New mums, looks over here!" Mrs. Granger announced then, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, camera in hand, "Smile for me!" she commanded, focusing the lens.

"Mum, please don't. I'm a mess-"

"Yes, I am as well." Fleur agreed, turning her face away from the camera.

"Trust me. This is going to be something that you're going to want to have when they're grown. Just let me take one photo and then I'll leave you all alone. Just one of the new mums and one of the whole Weasley clan."

"I suppose one photo wouldn't hurt." Fleur conceded, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Fine. If we give you those two shots, will you sit down and put the camera away, please?" Hermione asked in slight frustration.

"Deal." her mother nodded, putting her camera into place once more, "Get in really close, girls. That's it." she instructed as the two girls smiled, holding their daughters between them, "Now everyone." she announced, motioning for the whole family to join the photo. Bill and Fred tucked in behind their spouses while Ginny crouched in front of Hermione and the others leaned into the shot from all sides, "Beautiful!" the woman crooned once more, closing the camera and placing it back into her bag as promised.

"I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to take them both." the nurse announced, pushing through the crowd to where the two mothers sat conversing, "We've got to run their tests, but I wouldn't worry. They both seem perfectly healthy." she smiled, "There shouldn't be any reason why you both can't be discharged within the next day or so."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled in return, handing the baby off to the nurse, "I'd hate to say it, but I think I'm going to try to sleep a bit myself." Hermione admitted once the nurse had gone, "I'm exhausted and I'm sure you all are too."

It was true. The entire Weasley family as well as her own parents had been in the waiting room since the wee hours of the morning, waiting for the news that the baby had arrived, "All of you should go back to the Burrow and get some rest."

"Yes, we'll be fine until morning." Fleur assured them.

"They're right." Mrs. Weasley nodded, "None of you have eaten since last night." she realized, "We'll head back now and I'll make a spot of something for dinner."

As the rest of their party began to make their way out of the hospital, Fred wheeled his wife back into her own hospital room, "Are you sure you're going to be alright here by yourself, Hermione? I don't have to go. I can stay here if you want me to." he offered.

"It's only one night, Fred. I'll be fine. Go get some rest, take a shower, change your clothes. Come back in the morning when you're rested and then with any luck, we'll be out of this hospital by tomorrow night." she smiled.

"Alright." he nodded, helping her into bed once more and then leaning over her, he quickly pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I love you." he murmured, running a hand through her hair softly, leaning in once more to press a kiss to her lips, "I'll see you in the morning."


	19. The One With the Crying Baby

Hermione woke in the middle of the night with a groan. The baby was crying. Again. It had been three solid months of nonstop childcare, so much so that she hadn't yet been able to return to her work at the Ministry. Yes, Mrs. Weasley had offered to take care of the baby during the day, but even she had been unable to quiet the infant. The only ones she could quiet her were Hermione and Fred.

"Do you want me to go?" Fred asked, rolling over to face her and fighting against the exhaustion to open his eyes.

She shook her head, regretting it as soon as she did, seeing double from the exhaustion. Pulling her socks onto her bare feet, she yawned as she murmured, "No, I'll go. You've got work in a few hours. Get some sleep." leaning over to press a soft kiss to his temple before rolling out of bed and wiping the sleep out of her eyes. As she passed the wall clock in the hallway between their room and the nursery she grumbled. 3:15 am. She shut the nursery door soundly behind her, silently relieved that her own daughter's wails had not managed to wake Victoire in the next crib over. One screaming baby at a time was all Hermione was able to handle.

Almost as soon as Hermione had lifted Guinevere off her cot, she fell silent, relaxed by her gentle sway and steady heartbeat. So had been the routine every night for very nearly the entirety of the last three months. After nearly a solid hour of rocking, Hermione finally heard her daughter's breathing slow, signaling that she was once again asleep.

Carefully, she placed the baby back in her crib, taking care not to make any sudden movements. The last thing she wanted was to wake her again, because Hermione had a feeling that if Guinevere woke up again, it was going to be for good.

Hermione sighed in relief as she made her way over the threshold and out of the room, latching the door silently behind her. As she turned back to her own room, she winced, hearing the deafening sound of the floor creaking under her feet. She froze in her tracks, silently praying that the slight sound hadn't been enough to wake the babies. Sure enough, to her disappointment, another wail sounded from the room only moments later. Not from her daughter this time, but from Victoire.

Her hopes dashed, she headed back into the nursery just as her own daughter began to cry, "I'm sorry, baby." she murmured, pulling Victoire from her crib with one arm while trying to comfort Guinevere from her crib with her spare arm, "Oh, please stop crying." she plead, her desperation evident, "We're going to wake up the entire house."

Just as she uttered those words, the door to the nursery creaked open once more and she turned to see a rather exhausted Bill come slumping into the room, running a hand through his rugged hair, "I'm sorry, Bill." Hermione called over the two screaming children, "Didn't mean to wake you."

"No worries." he yawned, reaching out for Victoire, "How are you this morning, Hermione?" he asked, as he rocked Victoire back and forth, trying his best to quiet her screams, "Everything all right? You're looking a little green."

"No, no. I'm fine." she said as her lip began to quiver. She pulled Guinevere from her crib once again, trying to quiet her in the same fashion Bill had with Victoire, but to no avail, "I'm alright, really." she insisted, her tears beginning to fall and knees beginning to buckle.

"Give me the baby." Bill instructed, reaching out for Guinevere with his free arm.

"No." Hermione shook her head, "I can do this by myself. I swear to you, I'm fine." she insisted.

He shook his head, taking the second screaming baby around the waist and holding her close to his chest. As soon as Guinevere was out of her arms, Hermione collapsed against Guinevere's crib, her tears falling, "Hermione, what is it?" Bill asked, concerned.

"I'm a terrible mother." she cried, her head in her hands.

"Now how on earth did you come to that conclusion?" Bill questioned, continuing to rock the girls until they became progressively quieter.

"I should know how to make her stop crying, Bill. I'm her mother. I'm a mess. She's a mess. The baby won't sleep. Fred and I are exhausted all the time and I know he'd never admit it, but this is all starting to ware on him. I can see it. I can't talk to him about any of this because he's working twice as hard as I am. He goes to work early in the morning, comes home at night, helps take care of the baby. I'm sure it's utterly exhausting for him as well."

"Hermione-"

"And it's awful because sometimes...I get mad at her for it. I get mad at my newborn for crying. Can you believe how ridiculous that is? I'm going crazy in this house. And it's not because of anything anyone has done. I just can't spend every waking moment of everyday in _here_ with a screaming baby. I can't do it. I need...well I don't know what I need, but I know that _this_ is going to make me crazy. Isn't that selfish of me? Like I said – terrible mother."

"Hermione," he murmured as the two girls finally fell silent and he felt confident enough to sit beside her, "You are _not_ a terrible mother. You're just an exhausted one."

"I'm sure your mother was exhausted, but look at her."

"She's had a lot of practice, Hermione. You're not giving yourself any credit." he insisted, "You know, to be entirely fair, and not to offend you of course, but you just got a bad baby." he chuckled.

"Excuse me?" she snapped, suddenly defensive.

Bill shook his head quickly, "Not in a bad way. You just got a crier. So did we. And there's not a thing we can do about it. We've just got to wait for them to grow out of it. At least that's what Fleur's been telling me. You know, you should have a night away from your crier. Fleur and I are moving back home at the end of the week. Why don't we take Gwen for a night or two – give you and my baby brother a break?"

"You'd do that for us?" Hermione asked in utter disbelief, "If she was normal, I'd agree in a heartbeat, Bill, but you've seen what she's capable of-"

"Don't even worry about it." he shook his head, "Just be ready pay it forward one of these days. But for now, you two should go out. Have some fun. Sleep in, maybe."

"Thank you so much, Bill. I just don't even know what to say." she sighed in absolute relief at the idea of not having to wake up to a screaming baby for once.

"Just say thank you." he shrugged as he stood up carefully to place the babies back into their cribs, "Now go back to sleep, Hermione. I've got this."

"Thank you, Bill."


	20. The One With the Birthday Party

"Do you need help in here?" Fred asked, making his way into the kitchen where Hermione was putting the final touches on a giant birthday cake. He stooped down over her shoulder, watching her work furiously over the counter. It was then that she turned her face upward, pressing a light kiss to his lips before going back to what she was doing.

"I think I'm almost done here." she announced with pride, "I can't believe I actually did this." she chuckled, taking a step back to admire her work. The cake was two-tiered, fondant-plastered, with a giant number one clinging to the middle of the top tier, "You can carry it out and set it on the table. _Please_ be careful." she plead as she wiped her hands on her apron then unfastened it and threw it into the sink, "I'm right behind you."

The two young parents made their way back into their new dining room where the rest of the Weasleys and Grangers stood around, patiently waiting for their hosts to arrive. At the head of the table sat Guinevere in her bright pink highchair. She grinned from ear to ear as the cake was placed in front of her (far enough away so that it was out of reach, of course). The family joined in singing _Happy Birthday_ before Fred picked up a knife and began doling out small pieces of Hermione's masterpiece to their party goers.

Hermione made her rounds through their guests, realizing how close everyone had become since the War, how new bonds had been created and old ones had grown stronger. She watched in admiration as her mother humored Mr. Weasley by showing him the exact function of the toaster that he'd been so enamored with the last time he'd stopped by Fred and Hermione's new home. Across the living room, Ginny and Audrey were engaged in a neck-and-neck game of chess. Harry and Percy stood just over their shoulders, cheer leading as one would slowly take a lead over the other. Next to Guinevere's highchair sat Neville and Luna, each taking turns to try to get Guinevere to take a piece of cake off of a fork. And throughout the home, stood happy little groups of friends and family who were catching up – smiling, laughing – without a care in the world. Indeed, this was a far cry from where this exact group of people had been no more than three years ago, Hermione noted.

"Are you alright?" Fred asked, looping an arm around her waist then, "I can see the wheels in your head are turning."

"I'm fine." she nodded, "I'm just thinking about how much things have changed. I mean, it's not going to be that long until we're sending her off to Hogwarts."

"You _do_ realize she's only one year old, right? I wouldn't go buying the school supplies just yet, Mione." he chuckled.

"No. I just mean, it's been a _year,_ Fred. We've been parents for a year. Look at her." Hermione gushed, "She's not just a little, crying blob anymore. She's a _person._ "

He stifled his laughter, unable to keep his composure, "The fact that _you,_ Hermione, just referred to our daughter as a _blob_ is amusing, I must say."

Hermione shrugged, unable to rebuke his argument, "Who would've thought that _this_ is what our life would be like?"

" _Oh, bloody hell._ " Neville snapped, tearing the two young parents out of their reverie. They turned to see what had garnered such a reaction, only to double over in laughter. Indeed, their one year old had managed to take the spoon that Luna had been waving in her face just moments earlier and slingshot its contents directly into Neville's eyes.

"Oh no." Hermione laughed hysterically, hardly able to control herself as she grabbed for a napkin and went to help him right himself.

"That's my girl." George cackled as he walked by, ruffling the tufts of ginger hair atop his nieces head.

"Don't encourage her, George!" Hermione scolded, trying to get her giggles under control as Neville regained his sight, "So sorry, Neville. I probably should've warned you she likes to throw things."

"No problem." he grumbled, "Glad I'm worth a laugh." he shrugged.

"Where's Victoire?" Hermione asked as Fleur appeared at the bottom of the stairwell from the second floor.

"I hope it's alright. I put her upstairs in Gwen's room. She was just so tired and she needed a break." Fleur sighed, "We may leave soon. I can tell we're all starting to get a bit tired."

"Well, if you'd like, you two can head out and we can keep Victoire until tomorrow morning. I'm sure Gwen wouldn't mind sharing her room for the night."

"That's so sweet of you, Hermione. Thank you." Fleur thanked her sister-in-law with relief, "We can come get her tomorrow morning? Maybe 10?"

Hermione nodded, "I'll have her fed and ready for pick up. I'll see you then." she smiled, taking Fleur in a one-armed hug as she reached out with her other arm to take yet another projectile from her own daughter's hands.

"I think we're going to be heading out soon as well." Neville admitted, letting out a yawn of his own, "Thanks for inviting us, Hermione." he said as Luna came up by his side.

"Yes. We should do this more often. You know that Hermione...Neville and I are just around the corner. We'd love to babysit from time to time." she offered.

Hermione nodded once again, giving them both a thankful smile, "I'm sure I'll have to take you up on that at one point or another. I'll see you all soon." she murmured, giving them her good wishes as they finally made their way out the door.

One by one, friends and family began to leave from the young couples' home, soon leaving them in silence, "I can't believe we made it through that." Hermione chuckled, once she'd finally gotten Gwen to bed, "That was crazy."

"I can't believe we fit that many people in here, if I'm being entirely honest." Fred replied, sprawling out across the couch, an arm over his face, "Merlin, I'm exhausted."

"Me too." she yawned, collapsing onto the floor in front of the couch, her chin resting on its edge, "How the hell did we get so lucky? This is our life, Fred. Think about it. When we were at Hogwarts, we couldn't even be in the same room as each other. We were so hellbent on being _secretive,_ and now we can throw a party for all of our friends and family at _our_ home. We get to have this beautiful little girl to come home to everyday. You've got your shop back; I've got my work at the Ministry. I just – things _really_ couldn't have ended any better, could they?"

"I'd have to agree with you, there." he nodded, running a hand through her hair adoringly, "You and I got pretty lucky."

"I love you, you know?" she murmured, leaning up on her knees to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"I love you, too, Hermione."


	21. The One With the Hogwarts Letter

It was early morning and Hermione sat in the kitchen, across from a piping cup of tea staring out the window into the seemingly never-ending morning sky, "I'm starting to worry, Fred." she announced as he made his way into the kitchen with the morning paper in hand.

"Gwen's Hogwarts letter. It hasn't come yet." she shook her head reluctantly, "What if it doesn't come, Fred? What if she isn't _like_ us?"

He smiled, sitting down at the counter next to hers, "Hermione, if Gwen's Hogwarts letter never comes it won't change anything. You know that."

"Fred, when is the last time you've heard of a Weasley Squib? Could you imagine it? You know everyone says she's just like me, Fred, but what if she's _too_ much like me."

"That's not something you need to worry about. Even if she doesn't get her letter, that doesn't mean any of us will love her any less. It doesn't mean you've somehow failed her. That's just who she is and we'll deal with it when it comes to that."

Red rims began to assimilate around Hermione's eyes, "I don't know how to explain this to her, Fred. How are we going to tell her that she's not _like_ us."

"That isn't something we have to think about yet, okay? It's only June. We've got a couple of months yet. If August comes and goes... _then_ you can worry." he offered.

"I wish I could just...phone over to Hogwarts like I can with her school now."

"I think I need to think about taking the school's phone number away from you, speaking of. I imagine after another month, you'll be ringing up, asking them if she's been showing any signs of magic."

"But she _hasn't._ " Hermione snapped, "She hasn't shown a single sign yet that she has any magical blood in her at all. I can't do this, Fred. I'm losing my mi-"

"There's no need for that, Hermione." he snapped, his face draining of color as he looked to the window over the sink, which led to a flowering pot, "Hermione, look." he guffawed and Hermione jumped to her feet, flinging the window open for the owl perched there.

" _Fred,_ " she gasped in utter relief, clinging to the sink as her knees wobbled, "Fred, it's the letter. She got a letter." she squealed, jumping up and down as she clung to it.

"Are we going to open it?" he asked, tossing a biscuit in the direction of the owl as he made his way over to his wife, "We're going to open it, aren't we?"

"It's for Gwen. We should let her open it, shouldn't we? We should wait until she gets home from Harry and Ginny's." Hermione reasoned, pacing it down gingerly on the counter top.

Fred shook his head, grabbing the letter before she could tell him to stop, "For a bright witch, you really can be stupid, can't you?" he chuckled, "We'll spell it shut after we're done with it and leave it on the porch for her to find."

"We're terrible people, Fred." Hermione cackled, clinging to his arm as he tore the envelope open.

"She's in." he sighed a gasp of relief, his eyes twinkling with excitement, as he twirled a sheet of paper which read _Required Materials_ between his fingers and skimmed through the letter the preceded it, "Hermione, she's in."

"I can't wait for her to find out on her own. We need to go see her right now." Hermione insisted, grabbing her jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs, "Harry probably has her awake by now, wouldn't you think? We need to go over there."

"Let her enjoy the morning with her aunt and uncle, Hermione. She'll be back in a couple hours."

"I can't wait a couple of hours, Fred. I think I might actually explode." she chuckled,, "I'm going to Harry and Ginny's now to go see our girl. Are you coming or not?"

"Damn it, Hermione; let me get my coat." he cackled in utter glee, practically skipping down the hallway to the closet.

"What are we going to tell her? How are we going to do this? We can't just hand her the letter and say ' _Well there it is._ '."

"I'll tell you exactly what we're going to do. We're going to go to Diagon Alley and pick her out that ugly little imp of an owl that she's had her eye on for so long and we're going to bring it to her along with this letter and she's going to be so excited, she won't even know what to do with herself."

"Alright, we've got to go. Owl Harry and let him know what we're doing." Hermione shrieked in utter excited, "We need to go now."


	22. The One With the Farewell

" _Hermione, come on._ " Fred insisted, shaking her shoulders as she tried to will herself awake, "We've got to be at the station in an hour. I put on some tea, but we've got to get moving. We've got to get Gwen packed."

"I thought I told you to help her pack last night." Hermione growled, rolling over and trying to take advantage of what she knew would likely be her last few moments of sleep.

It was a chuckled that she heard then as he sat down at her bedside, "We _were_ supposed to do her packing last night…but after talking for a while, we decided that we'd rather spend her last night at home in the lab. We concocted something new for the Sciving Snackbox line. It's pretty incredible."

"Oh, really?" Hermione asked, giving up on the hope of more sleep and pushing herself up into a sitting position, "Alright, I'm going to go get a cup of tea. _You_ go make sure that she starts packing and for the love of all things, do _not_ try to sneak those order forms from the shop back into her trunk."

"Yes, Ma'am." Fred nodded, giving her a salute as they went their separate ways.

"Gwen, come down here and get something to eat from the pantry!" Hermione called as she hustled around the kitchen, putting together some things for Gwen to take with her for the trip.

"Coming, Mum!" she called from over the banister from the second floor. Not a moment later, she and Fred came hobbling down the stairs, each carrying an end of Gwen's massive school trunk.

"Merlin that was fast." Hermione guffawed in stunned appreciation, "How did you manage that?"

"I didn't know what I would need so we just packed everything with one of those invisible expansion spells. Dad did it himself."

"That's brilliant." She admitted, nodding absently, "Go ahead and load that into the car and then come find yourself something to eat. Let's move. We've only got about forty-five minutes."

Fred rolled his eyes as he trekked the trunk through the hallway and out into the driveway, "I don't understand why you insisted on us taking the _damned_ car." He whined, "We would've been just as well apparating."

"Yes, of course. We'll just _pop_ right smack into the center of the city with a trolley full of luggage. That won't look suspicious at all." Hermione chuckled, watching as the two struggled to lift the trunk into the back seat of the car, "Trust me, the car is a safe move."

Running around the house, collecting the few things that Hermione reckoned Gwen might need for the trip to Hogwarts, she shouted to the young girl who had since taken refuge in her room, "Gwen, do you have a pack to bring on the train? You know you're going to have to change into your school robes on the train."

"Right you are." Gwen nodded, shoving her uniform deep into the bottom of her old school bag and then tossing it to her mother, who filled the satchel to the top with everything she could possibly think of to make the transition to Hogwarts that night as smooth as possible. She recalled her own first night at Hogwarts and finding it difficult to sleep knowing that she was _so_ far away from home and everyone she loved. With this in mind, Hermione stuffed the bag to overflowing with knickknacks and odds and ends from around the house as well as a few snacks.

"Are we good to go?" Fred asked, charging down the stairs at full speed, "We've got to go now if we're going to get there with any time to spare."

Hearing this, Hermione haphazardly shoved her hair into a ponytail and then found whichever of her clothes were the nicest and easiest to put together. With that, she was out the door in a rush along with the rest of her clan, "Fred, are you _sure_ you don't want me to drive?" she asked nervously, as he hopped into the driver side seat without hesitation.

"It will be fine, Hermione. I'm not that bad of a driver."

"Alright, just remember that the neighbor likes to let her cat wander and-"

"Mum, _get in the car!_ " Gwen snapped, flinging the door open from the back seat. Every second they spent dwelling over the cat, or who was driving, or what time they would arrive, would be one second less they knew they would have to get to the station and they were running short on time as it was.

Fred tore out of the driveway on what one could only assume was two wheels and took off down the street with Hermione holding on to the dashboard and Gwen clinging to the back of her mother's seat for dear life, "Alright, everybody out." Fred snapped, suddenly ultra-aware of the time restraint which they were under, "We've only got a few minutes. I'll get the trunk. You two head into the station."

"You've got to be bloody joking." Gwen choked.

Hermione shook her head then, giving Gwen's hand a light smack, "I've told you too many times to watch your mouth, Gwen. Now, you heard what I told you to do. You've just got to run straight at the wall and close your eyes and then you'll be on the platform and Dad will be waiting on the other side to catch you. Come on; we're running out of time. One, two, three."

With a light shove from her mother, Gwen went sailing through onto the platform. Hermione was close on her heels. To her shock, as she ran through onto the station, she ran directly into her daughter's back, sending them both crashing to the floor, "Sorry." Hermione grumbled, pushing herself back up to her feet before helping Gwen up as well.

"I've already got her things on the train." Fred announced, "All we've got to do now is find Teddy and Victoire and…say our goodbyes."

"They're right over there, Dad." Gwen chirped, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in all of her excitement. She zoomed through the crowd leaving her parents in her wake as she made her way over to her cousins, accompanied by Harry, Andromeda, Victoire, and Bill.

"My word, look at how grown up you've gotten." Hermione crooned, as Fred ruffled Teddy's hair affectionately, "You don't bring him 'round enough, Harry. We want to see more of Teddy over their winter holiday."

"Yes, Ma'am." Harry saluted, chuckling as he pulled his godson into his side. It was so obvious how proud and fatherly he had truly become.

The train whistle sounded, signaling to all parties that the time had come to say goodbye and go their separate ways. It was at this point that Hermione could feel the tears pricking at the edges of her eyes. She realized then that she likely wasn't going to see her girl again until the winter holiday and that was something, she realized, that she was not ready for. The two had scarcely spent a day apart in Gwen's entire life and knowing that their relationship would be relegated to almost nothing but letter worried the both of them.

"Alright, give your mother a hug. We've got to get you on that train." Fred commanded, pulling Hermione out of her reverie. As Gwen held her tight around the waist, Hermione couldn't help but take in the familiar scent of her hair, the color of which was the bright crimson red, the false color she'd once protested but now never wanted to see the end of.

"You're _sure_ you've got everything you need?" Hermione asked one final time.

"Hermione, she's practically falling over from weight of her bag. I don't think you could've packed her anything else if you'd tried." Bill laughed, watching Gwen as she struggled under the bag, her hip cocked out to one side to try to relieve some of the train on her shoulder, "They're going to miss their train if they don't hurry."

"Yes!" Hermione nodded, "Yes, you're right. Alright, Gwen, give Mum a hug." She commanded, opening her arms wide, "I'll miss you. And I'll write as soon as we get home."

"Alright, Mum." Gwen grinned, pulling away quickly, "I love you. I'll see you at Christmas – maybe sooner."

"Let's plan on sooner!" Hermione called as Gwen made her way to the train, bag in tow. Hermione couldn't help but gulp back her tears as she watched her daughter take her place on the train, a blistering grin spread wide across her face. She pushed to the front of the crowd, waving as she watched the train disappear into the distance and once it was out of sight, there she stood alone as other parents began to filter out of the station, back from whence they came.

"Are you ready to go, Hermione?" Fred asked, seemingly unphased by the events that had just taken place.

She nodded along, saying her hollow goodbyes to Bill and Fleur as well as Harry before making her way out of the station. She stared ahead blankly as she and Fred made their way back into the parking lot and to the car, "All right," Fred murmured as soon as the key landed in the ignition, "I know you're not alright. Talk to me."

"She's my baby, Fred." Hermione sighed, finally letting her tears fall free.

Fred nodded, realizing quickly then that there wasn't much he could do to help Hermione through her thoughts at that point, "I know she is. She's going to be fine, Hermione."

"I haven't had a second to breathe, Fred, since I was her age. I have been in a dead sprint since I was eleven years old and now…it's like it's all coming to a crashing halt. She's gone. And I don't know what to do now."

"She's not _gone,_ Hermione. She's only at school. If you need to, we'll contact the school a few weekends a semester, bring her home. Would that help? Would it help if we wrote her a letter as soon as we got home?"

"Yes, that might help." She sniffed, wiping at her nose with the hem of her shirt sleeve.

"Alright, then we'll do that." He agreed, rubbing a comforting pattern up and down her arm, "You haven't lost your identity, Hermione. We've just got to learn how to adapt to how things are now."

"So what you're saying…we have to make it up?" she asked, a slight grin appearing on her face then.

"Make it up."


	23. The One With the Homecoming

"Did you put the tea out, Fred?"

"I thought you were doing that. I'm dusting the picture frames, as instructed." Fred called from his perch at the corner table that was filled to overflowing with family photos from throughout the years.

"Damn it; that's right. I did tell you to do that." She grumbled, running into the kitchen to take the tea off the stove, "They're going to be here any minute, Fred. Can you hurry up with those photos?" she called, tossing the tea kettle and four cups onto a tray before running them out into the sitting room and placing them around a plate of biscuits in small patterns until she was satisfied with it.

"Remind me why we're doing this again, Love." Fred insisted as he placed the last photo back onto the table.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "We're doing this, Fred, because we want to make Gwen's – you know – to feel completely at home here. We don't want to scare him away and I'm just worried that we might come on a little strong if we're not careful."

"And you don't think that _this,_ " Fred chuckled, pointing at the array of finger foods she had laid out only minutes prior, "might be coming on just a tad strong, Hermione?"

"No, please," she scoffed, "This isn't going overboard. This is just a nice presentation. I am starting to wonder when they're going to get here. She told me they were packing up to leave hours ago. I wonder what's taking them so long."

"I see why it took them so bloody long now." Fred bellowed in laughter, "Look outside, Hermione. They bloody drove here."

"No wonder it took them hours to get here. Let me see." She guffawed, bouncing up on her toes to look out over the sink and out the kitchen window, "She always did like a Suday drive, I suppose." She chuckled.

"Thank goodness you made it. We were starting to think you weren't going to make it for our weekend." Hermione smiled warmly, holding her arms out for Gwen as she made her way out into the driveway, "I can't believe you drove all the way here from-"

"I know. It was all his idea." Gwen interjected, going to hug her father then, "We would've been here sooner but traffic turned out to be heavier than we'd expected."

Fred let out a chuckled as he ran a hand through her hair, "You didn't think this through very well, did you? If there was traffic, why didn't you just park and ap-"

"Didn't think about it. We were listening to the radio. Lost track of time." Gwen shrugged.

"Declan, Mrs. Weasley." The boy Gwen had arrived with stuck out his hand in introduction. Hermione stared blankly ahead as she began putting the pieces together inside of her head.

"Pleasure to meet you." Hermione smiled, pulling her hand free from his, "Why don't you two go on inside. There are some snacks and some tea in the front room. Go ahead on in." she ushered them toward the door, before grabbing Fred's wrist and pulling him over to the side of the house, "Fred, give me your wand."

"My wand? Why do you need my wand?" he asked, responding in an equally hushed tone, "What's wrong, Hermione?"

"We need to hide them. Think, Fred. Is there anything magical that Declan may be able to see in the front room? We've got to hide it all."

" _Hermione,_ " he snapped, cupping her face in his hand, "you've got to _tell_ me what's going on or I can't help you. We've talked about this."

"He's a _Muggle,_ Fred." She whispered frantically, "Think, Fred. Did you not see that bag he was carrying on his shoulder? That's a computer bag. Gwen cut us off every time we almost mentioned something magical. They bloody well drove here, Fred. It's so obvious. Are there any pictures, enchanted…cleaning tools…anything?"

"Nothing I can think of."

"Merlin, _why_ wouldn't she tell us about this?" Hermione grumbled, "Does she even know the laws?"

"Obviously she knows some of them or she wouldn't have thought to jump in when we were talking about magic. Shit. What do we do now?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged, craning or neck to look inside of the house from the window to her side, "I have no idea. Do we need to talk to her about this?"

"If she knows the laws, I don't see why we should make this into anything more than it already is. They're just two kids dating, Hermione. She's only in her sixth year. It can't be that serious, can it?"

"But what if it is? What if it _is_ serious? She needs to know what the limits are. She could be arrested, Fred. She could lose her wand if she goes too far."

"Then we'll talk to her." He nodded, "We'll talk to her, let her know where the boundaries are, but let's not do it right now. Don't worry about it right now, Hermione. Please just try to enjoy our time with them. We'll talk to Gwen later tonight, alright?"

"Alright." She nodded, swaying and taking a deep breath to calm herself, "We should go in now, shouldn't we?"

"Let's do it." he agreed, leading her back into the house with a hand on her back.

After a few moments of sitting in blank silence around the coffee table, Hermione finally brought herself to break into conversation, "So, Declan, what is it that you do?"

"I work." He nodded, "I'm a writer."

"Ah."

For another moment, the four of them fell into silence, all sipping their tea in painful silence, "He's quite a good writer, too, Mum. He had an article published in an American publication not too long ago. It was quite good."

"That was nice of you to say." He smiled, nudging Gwen's shoulder with his own, causing her to light up with a bright smile, "She makes it sound more interesting than it really is, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I wrote an editorial on global warming and it was placed in an independent magazine. It's more of a pamphlet, really."

"So you're an activist?" Hermione asked, leaning forward, a hand on her chin, "I was something of an activist back in my day as well." She smiled, "Equality and animal rights were my marching orders."

Hermione grasped to this one similarity that she had managed to find between herself and Declan and continued to manage to uphold conversation for a fair amount of time before Gwen finally stood up yawning, "It's getting late, Mum. If you don't mind I think we're going to head off to bed."

" _We?_ " Hermione choked, "Gwen, I appreciate that you think we're…"

"Cool?" Fred offered, equally astonished by her openness.

"Sure. Let's go with that." Hermione nodded, "But we're not okay with that. Declan will stay on the couch tonight."

"The couch? _Mum._ " Gwen guffawed in seeming disbelief.

Declan stood then, "No, it's fine, Gwen. Your parents are right. I'll be fine on the couch." He chuckled, "I'll see you in the morning."

Quietly, Hermione set out some blankets for Declan and then ran upstairs to meet up with her daughter who was already in bed, "Gwen, do you have a second?" Hermione asked, knocking softly on the door as she entered. Only a second later, Fred appeared behind her.

"What is it? Is everything alright?" Gwen asked, sitting up and pulling off her eye mask.

"Don't worry. Everything's fine." Hermione smiled, "We were just hoping we could talk to you for a few minutes about Declan."

"What about Declan?"

"Well," Hermione wrung her hands trying to find the right words, "It's less _about_ Declan, because he's lovely and we both _really_ like him, and more about the situation that we're all going to be in now that, as I imagine, he's going to be spending more time with…everyone."

"I'm sorry; I'm not following, Mum."

It took everything in Hermione's power not to roll her eyes then, "We know he's a Muggle, Gwen. And though we're fine with whomever you choose to be with..."

"We would've appreciated a little bit of a head's up." Fred interjected.

"Huh." Gwen nodded in confusion, "Is that…the gist of this whole conversation that we're about to have? Because I really wasn't joking about being tired and if the lecture could wait until the morning that would be great."

"No." Hermione snapped, "No, it can't wait until the morning. I need you to explain to me _exactly_ how you plan on working through this. Because it's a very hard thing to do, you know – trying to conceal your magic."

Gwen rolled her eyes then, not even pretending to hide her disdain for the conversation they were having then, "Mum, Dad, I appreciate your concern, but I've been doing fine at hiding my magic. I haven't mentioned it to him or tried to _do_ anything around him. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"See, but I don't think you do, Gwen, or you wouldn't be doing _this._ You didn't tell us that he…is the way he is…until he got here. We had to figure it out for ourselves. Do you see how that might not have been the best decision that could have been made in this situation?" Hermione asked.

"Your wand could be snapped for even _one_ infraction, Gwen. You could go to Azkaban." Fred added.

"You could be expelled." Hermione shrieked, "We're just trying to urge you, here, to make good decisions. Think these things through before you do them, Gwen."

"I'm not sure what you're not understanding about this." Gwen snapped sitting up stalk straight, "I have thought this through. I have thought about every possible outcome. Chances are I'm not going to marry him, so it's even like I have to worry about what's going to happen in the future. Can't I just have fun like _every_ other kid my age?"

"Of course you can, Gwen. We just want you to be safe while you're doing it."

"Okay. Listen to me." Gwen insisted, "I am not going to leave him just because you're worried about what could possibly happen if I slip up. I'm happy with Declan and I just want to see how things are going to go and I'll worry about figuring out how to hide this on the long term…when the long term happens."

"Well…we know you're tired, Gwennie." Fred sighed, running a hand over her hair once again, "Get some sleep."

"I was planning on it." She quipped, throwing her blanket over her head and letting out a frustrated groan.

Shutting the door quietly behind her, Hermione let out a disgruntled sigh, less than pleased with how the conversation had gone.

"That went well." Fred chuckled, seeming to be in shock himself.

"You're staying up tonight to make sure they stay in their own spaces." Hermione stated flatly, heading for her own room.

"I'll go put on some coffee, then."


	24. The One With the Tentative Acceptance

"How does it feel to be done with school?" Fred asked, wrapping an arm around Gwen's shoulders as she made her way off of the train for the last time.

"Don't' go getting sentimental, Dad. It doesn't suit you." Gwen chuckled, leaning into his shoulder, "I missed you two."

"Declan is out in the car." Hermione said, a small smile on her face.

"You brought him?" her eyes grew wide with excitement.

Hermione nodded in reply gladly, "He really wanted to see you. Just be vague when you talk about school. We told him you were going to an art school in the highlands."

"Very clever." Gwen chuckled.

"We're so proud of you, Gwennie. All of us. We've got a little party waiting for you back home. Your grandmother has been going crazy in anticipation. She's absolutely over the moon." Fred mused.

"You know I didn't need a party, Mum." she chuckled to herself, "I'm just glad to be home. It feels like it's been forever."

"I know the feeling." Hermione nodded back, "Your grandmothers _really_ wanted to do this for you, though."

"Grand _mothers?_ " Gwen cackled, "Both of them? Mum, you know I love them both, but both of them at the same time is quite a bit to handle."

"Believe me, I know. I tried to tell them that exact same thing, but they insisted that this was something that they wanted to do for you and Victoire."

"I suppose I should enjoy the peace in the car while I have it, eh?" Gwen joked, handing her trolley off to her dad so that he could push it out to the car.

Fred shook his head then, "I wouldn't get too set on finding silence in the car. Your mother volunteered us to drive Victoire and your cousins to the party also."

"Hold on. Let me get this straight." Gwen sighed dejectedly, "So let me get this straight, Declan is going to be in a car with me, both of you, Victoire, James and Albus...and we're going to somehow keep from him that the entire family goes to Hogwarts."

"If we can manage to keep James' mouth shut for the ride home, we should be just fine. He's the only one we should be concerned about." Fred said, "Even if he were to say something, though? Do you really think Declan would believe that all of you went to the witchery school of the highlands?"

"Do they all know? That he's a Muggle?"

"Gwen, it was big news for a long time. Of course they know." Hermione insisted, "Don't worry about it. Today is your day."

"There's Victoire. I think that's James behind her." Fred pointed over the bobbing heads of the thousands of people filling the platform.

Once all of the cousins had assembled, the pack made their way out to the car where Declan was waiting, "How's my graduate?" he mused as Hermione and Fred went about the puzzle that was trying to fit four childrens' school supplies in the trunk of their van.

"Glad to be done; that's what she is." Gwen laughed, leaning against his shoulder as James and Victoire scooted into the back seat and Albus slid in beside Declan and Gwen.

The kids sat in silence as they listened to Hermione and Fred bickering over the luggage, "You've just got to give it a push. It'll fit just fine." Fred insisted.

"No, we've got to take it all out and start again. If we just push it'll leave rivets in the ceiling." Hermione snapped, "Trust me. There's a better way to do this."

"Why don't we just have the kids carry their bags so we just have to figure out how to fit all of their trunks?"

"Fred, there's an hour's drive ahead of us. Their bags are heavy. There's a way to fit it all back here. I know there is."

Gwen rolled her eyes as she waiting in patience for her parents to be done in the back. After another good fifteen minutes, her mother had conceded. Fred and Hermione crammed everything into the trunk, not minded any organizational tactic they may have hoped for in the beginning. Moments later, the parents were in the front seats and again they were scorching out of the parking lot.

"I've got something I need to talk to you about when we get back to the house." Declan murmured, softly enough that he thought nobody would hear.

"Can we talk about it now?" Gwen asked over the shouts of her cousins back and forth. The distractions from the back seat were clearly taking their toll on Fred's driving. Cars whizzed by on every side, honking wildly as he bounced from one line to the other, trying to keep the car steady while simultaneously keeping up with the conversations of his riders. The events of the ride had caused everyone in the car to grab on to the nearest thing to them to steady themselves for what they'd assumed would be an inevitable impact, "I'm afraid that if we manage to make it home in the first place, when we get there I won't have much time to talk. Apparently my grandmothers are throwing a party."

"Well, I'd rather not say what I was planning on...in the car. It can wait. It's no big deal." he chest rumbled as he laughed, "Don't worry about it. I'll catch you when I catch you."

"Just leave your things in the car, you four." Hermione offered, practically leaping out of the car as soon as it stopped outside of the house, "Go enjoy the party. We'll bring your things in tonight. Try to act surprised when you walk through the door, kids. This means a lot to your grandmothers."

As Victoire and Gwen made their way into the house, they were met with a massive round of applause from family and friends – some who they'd just seen on the train platform, others who'd been out of their lives for years. They made their rounds throughout the house, hugging and chatting with those who they were closest to. Nobody noticed when Declan had slipped outside to speak to Hermione and Fred.

"He's quite handsome – Declan – isn't he?" Ginny mused when Gwen ran into the kitchen to escape the masses for a few moments.

"I like to think so." Gwen smiled, "I haven't seen much of him around. Do you have any idea where he's gone off to?"

"I saw him and your father lurking around a few minutes. I think he's got something planned for you." she quirked her eyebrow, "I think he's going to ask you to marry him."

" _What?_ " Gwen shrieked, her eyes growing huge, " _Marry_ him? You've got to be joking."

Ginny shook her head maniacally, "Not joking. The last time your Uncle Harry was this cryptic about anything was the day he asked me to marry him. Mark my words. You'll be engaged by the end of the night."

"Neither one of us is thinking about the future like that, Aunt Gin. Declan and I have talked about this. Marriage is a tricky and frustrating. Neither one of us are interested in it right now."

"You're just stubborn, Gwen; it's not as bad as you think." she chuckled, "I can see him through the window. He's coming in the front door. You should come back into the living room with me. I feel like there's an announcement about to be made."

" _There you are._ " Declan mused as Ginny and Gwen made their way out of the kitchen. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, guiding her into a chair, "Listen, Gwen. Now that you're out of school...I wanted to do this. The two years that we've spent together, doing this, have been the best years of my life. And we're not getting any younger. So...we're not getting any younger. I wanted to ask you, Gwen...would marry me."

All eyes were on the two of them, then. Out of the corner of her eye, Gwen caught sight of her Aunt Audrey jumping up excitedly and running to the door, leaning out and shouting, "He's doing it! _Right now!_ " Only a moment later did Fleur come running in from the back yard where she and Audrey's toddler Lucy had been playing in the dandelions.

Pushing herself out of her stunned paralysis, Gwen spluttered, trying to form a cohesive sentence, "My God, did everybody know about this but me?" she chuckled half-heartedly, glancing around the room at her expectant family members, watching her mother as she excitedly snapped one photo right after the other. Frantically, she looked to her father, trying to earn some level of reprieve, but even he stood there, stalk still in anticipation.

Declan brandished a ring from his front pocket, pulling it clear out of the box he'd been carrying it around in, "Marry me?"

Gwen nodded, realizing that she'd taken a beat to long in her consideration, "As long as we're both with the understanding that it won't be soon. I want to marry you, but...just not right now."

"Wait. So, I'm...is that a no?"

"That's a yes. With the stipulation of...I just don't want it to be right _now._ " she smiled then as his eyes lit up hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Yes." Gwen nodded, holding her hand out for him to place the ring on her finger. After he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck unabashedly and pulled him in for a kiss.

Tentative applause came from all across the house as Gwen's less than lackluster agreeance rang clear. After a while things settled back into their normal rhythm and everything went back to normal.

Once the night came, the party began to disperse. One by one, friends and family made their way out of the Weasley home and down the street to their apparating safe-spot. Declan was the last to leave, his signature laptop bag slung over his blazer-clad shoulder as he made his way out the door.

After everyone had left, Gwen allowed to exhaustion of the day to overtake her, collapsing onto the couch with a deep sigh. Only moments later her mother made her way out into the living with a cup of tea, placing it down in front of Gwen, "What a day." she mused.

"Yeah, what a day." Gwen sighed.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her daughter's forearm, "Today was a big day. I'm sure your head is spinning. You took off your ring." she noted.

Gwen sat up then, knowing that she was in for a long-haul conversation, "I took it off because it doesn't fit well. It's too big and it makes my hand heavy." she shrugged.

"Are you sure that's the reason?" Hermione gave Gwen her all-knowing stare. When she was met with nothing but silence, Hermione took her daughter in her arms and rested her head on her shoulder, "For what it's worth, I'm really proud of how you acted today."

"What?"

"You knew what you wanted or...I suppose...what you didn't want...and you did what was best for you. I don't think I could've done that at your age. That's a lot to be proud of, Gwen." They sat there together in comfortable silence for a few more minutes until Hermione finally stood, giving Gwen a pat on the knee, "Finish your tea and get to bed. We're getting you unpacked in the morning."

Hermione made her way back to her own room then, collapsing onto her own bed as she did, thanking Merlin that the day was finally over, "Something's on your mind." Fred noted, coming out of the bathroom to sit alongside her.

"How do you know that?"

"Something is _always_ on your mind, Love." he sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm afraid that Gwen only said yes because there were so many people around. I mean, it's so obvious that she loves him, yes, but...I knew it was going to happen _someday._ I just didn't think she'd be getting married right now. She just finished school this morning, Fred, and now she's engaged. It's just not _like_ her."

"You know as well as anyone that love does strange things to a person." Fred suggested, raising an eyebrow at her appraisingly.

"That's different." she shook her head, "You and I are different."

"What makes them so different than how we were at their age? You know she's exactly like you?" he chuckled, "I look at her and I see you, Hermione. Being with that boy is the only _'dangerous'_ thing she's done in her entire life. Trust me. This will be good for her."

"When did you get to be such a damn know-it-all?" Hermione laughed, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "I love you, Fred Weasley."


	25. The One With the Passing

"Good morning, love of my life." Fred murmured, rolling over onto his side to meet Hermione's gaze. The early morning sun just peeked in through the window across the room.

"Good morning, husband of mine." Hermione giggled, wiping the sleep from her eyes and throwing an arm around his neck and pulling him in close. She pressed a kiss to his forehead as they slowly began to wake up on the calm Spring day.

The few minutes in the morning that the two got to spend together were the most sacred time of the day for either of them. With the joke shop expanding and Hermione helping to plan Gwen's wedding, the times they got to spend together were few and far between, so they took advantage of the minutes that they did have together.

"What's your plan for today?" Fred asked, letting out an unabashed yawn as he pushed himself to a sitting position.

"I don't know," Hermione murmured, "I thought I might pop by to see Bill and Fleur. Gwen and I are going to be looking at invitations later on today. Somewhere in there I've got to make it to the Ministry to sign off on some paperwork. You know, the usual." she sighed, "I could reschedule, though...if we wanted to stay in today." Entwining her fingers in his, she pulled him back down to the bed, "What do you say?"

"I say..." he grumbled, trying to pay no attention to her innuendo, "I say that...I told George I would be in early to help balance the books, so I really need to get going."

"Fred-"

"If it were any other day, Hermione, but today is going to be a busy one at the shop." he sighed, "Soon, though. We'll have a day soon, alright?"

"Since when did you become the _bloody_ responsible one, Fred Weasley?" she grumbled, tossing a pillow over her head to snuff out the light from the window, "I'm going back to sleep, then."

"Alright. _Hey._ " he murmured, "I love you."

"I know. I love you, too." she smiled, leaning across the bed to give him a peck on the lips before he ran out of the room with his work robes in tow.

That afternoon, Hermione flooed to Shell Cottage where she'd agreed to meet with Fleur to discuss new décor for the cottage's sitting room. After what she'd realized had nearly been twenty years of the same old thing, Fleur was ready for a change.

It hadn't come as a shock to Hermione to find out that the truth behind their meeting was not so that they could look at new rug and tapestry patterns, but for a conversation. Ever since Victoire had moved out of the cottage to live with Teddy Lupin, Fleur and Bill had not quite been the same. It was so obvious that their lives for nearly 19 years had revolved around their daughter and not having her around everyday was beginning to take its toll.

"I don't understand how you do it, Hermione. How do you go about...not _knowing_ where Gwen is? That boyfried of hers could've swept her off to Greece for all we know and nobody would be the wiser."

"Is that what you think is happening for Teddy and Victoire?" Hermione giggled, "You know your daughter better than anyone, Fleur. She's got a good head on her shoulders. She isn't just going to go running off into the sunset with Teddy Lupin, of all people."

"They were childhood sweethearts." Fleur sighed, leaning back into the couch dejectedly, "I always thought they would outgrow each other."

"What's so bad about them?" Hermione asked, "It isn't as though either one of them are particularly bad kids."

"No, I know. I know that." she chuckled, "I just always imagined Victoire ending up with someone...different."

"Someone less broken?"

"I didn't say that." Fleur rejected, shaking her head frantically.

"I know you didn't say it. You didn't have to. I get it." Hermione sighed, "He's like a son to us, you know? Not just me and Fred – Ginny and Harry...Ron...all of us. He means a lot to a lot of people. He's a good boy, Fleur and–"

"Hermione," Fred bellowed, stumbling out of the floo on the first floor, giving the two women a massive shock. The two could hear him barreling up the stairs, " _Hermione,_ we've got to go."

"What? We've got to go where?" Hermione asked, running out into the hallway to meet him, "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"It's Mum." he shouted in complete and utter panic, "We think she's dying."

"Dying? How could she be dying? She's never even been to the hospital. How could she be dying?" Hermione stuttered, flabbergasted.

"I don't know, but she's at home. Ginny says it doesn't look good." Fred shook his head, "Oh, God. What are we going to do, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, taking his hand in her own, trying to calm him, "Alright. Okay." she held onto both of his hand tightly, "We'll go now. Fleur, meet us there." she called, apparating out of the room once again.

"Where is she?" Hermione asked as soon as the two landed at the Burrow. Through the grapevine, one family member after another had heard about Mrs. Weasley's condition and they poured into the house via floo, apparating, and on foot from what seemed like nearly every direction.

"She's upstairs with Dad and Luna and Ginny." George said flatly, coming into view from between two cousins.

Hermione made her way to him quickly, pushing herself onto her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck, "Oh, George." she sighed heavily, holding onto him as she felt his chest rumble with racked sobs, "Have you seen her?"

"Not yet." he sniffed, stepping away and wiping at his tears, "Ginny's up there doing what she can and Luna brought her something for the pain."

"That's good, then." Hermione nodded, wiping a tear away from his cheek, "Do you need anything, George? Have you eaten today? I can make you something."

"No, I'm fine. Thanks." he sighed, "Not hungry."

"Alright. Then come sit with Fred and me." Though she smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes as she took both of their hands and led them to the couch, sitting between the two of them.

Audrey was the next person Hermione's eye landed on. On her hip Audrey held Lucy, bouncing her back and forth to try to keep her entertained, "Where's your husband?" Hermione asked.

"He's on his way here now. It took him longer to get the message. He was in the meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister. He'll be here any minute."

Hermione could feel the twins on either side of her tense at the mention of their black sheep of a brother. _Leave it to him,_ she could practically feel them thinking, _to be at work through this._

Audrey left to step outside as Lucy began to whine, leaving Hermione and the twins alone once again. Only a moment later did Luna come walking down the stairs, her features pale and ashen.

The three of them listened in as Luna made her way over to Ron who had been pacing in the corner under the watchful eye of Harry, "I was able to make a salve to ease her chest pains. Ginny's done just about all she knows how to, but this...I don't think we can fix it. You should go up and say something to her."

" _Damn it._ " Ron snapped, throwing his fist at the wall at full force, causing the room to fall silent. Harry put a hand on his shoulder then, unsure of how to console him.

"Come on." Harry murmured, guiding Ron upstairs.

"He's the one who found Mum this morning." George mumbled, his eyes still blank, "She fell and couldn't get up so he called for Ginny, and then...all of this."

Silently, one by one, family members made their way upstairs to say their goodbyes. As the group began to weed out to leave only close family members, Hermione, Fred, and George remained seated on the couch staring straight ahead. Percy was the last one down the stairs, collapsing onto the loveseat in the living room in dejection, "If you're going to say something..."

"We need to do it now, don't we?" Fred asked.

"I would."

After a moment more of silence, George finally sighed, pushing himself to his feet once again, "You ready for this, Freddie?"

"I don't think I could ever be ready, George." he admitted, "Let's do this." he sighed, stretching a hand out to Hermione, "Let's go."

"What-" she gasped, taken aback, "Oh, Fred...this is your time with your mother. I don't think I-"

"Hermione, please." she could see the tears building around the corners of his eyes, "I need you."

She nodded, slightly dazed as she held Fred's hand tightly and made her way up the stairs, "Fred, George. My boys." Mrs. Weasley smiled as the three of them made their way into the dim bedroom. On one side of her bed, sat Luna and Ginny, one chanting pain relief spells and the other rubbing the relief salve into the palm of her hand and up her arm. Mr. Weasley sat to her left, a hand on her forehead and a grim look on his face.

"Mum." George sobbed, his steely resolve breaking as he toppled to his knees at her bedside, "Mum, I...we..."

"I know." she smiled, letting out a weak cough, reaching out for his hand then, "I wanted to say something to the two of you especially, because...I realized while I was laying here...I don't think I've ever told you before how _unbelievably_ proud I am of the both of you."

She reached out for Fred's hand then as well, "I am _so_ proud of what you two have done. George, that _shop_ and...and Fred, your _beautiful_ family...I never gave the two of you enough credit. Such talented boys, I have. I'm so _proud_ of both of you. And I wish that I'd spent more time telling you _that_ and less trying to deter you from doing what you loved."

"Don't say that, Mum-"

"I mean it, you two. Do what you love...do what you're _so good_ at...for the rest of your lives. Nothing would make me happier." she smiled warmly at Fred and George before taking her hand from Fred and holding it out to Hermione, "And...you, my dear."

"Mrs. Weasley, you don't have to-"

"I want you to take care of my boys." she coughed. Hermione could tell that it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to speak, "Fred, George, and...Ron...they all need you."

"Okay. I can take care of them." Hermione nodded, a sad smile on her face as she stretched her hand out for Fred's, "I'll always be here, Mrs. Weasley. You know that."

She nodded weakly then, "I needed to hear that." before turning to Ginny, "I can't feel anything anymore."

"That's alright, Mum. Just relax." Ginny's voice quivered as she continued working her spells.

"Should I call everyone in?" Hermione asked, following by a nod from Ginny. She fled downstairs to collect the rest of the Weasley children, arriving just in time. Kneeled and bent around the bent in all matter of contortions, the family hugged and comforted their matriarch as she passed.

Hermione stood bent behind Fred, holding onto him tightly as they watched the ordeal through a misty haze. Quietly, Ginny leaned over to close her mother's eyes, followed by Luna's soft coo of, "Now it looks like she's sleeping."

Fred hadn't spoken another word that night. George returned to the couple's home that night. Unable to be alone in his own he'd agreed to take the couch. The brothers shuffled through the next few hours, not taking dinner and refusing to go out to see Gwen and Declan as Hermione had suggested. Fred hadn't budged from his spot on the bed for the entire night. Hermione had to admit that she had been frightened to join him that night, because she didn't know what to expect from him. Finally she did, though.

Moving to lay beside him, she wrapped an arm around his middle, holding his rigid framed tightly against her own, "Please say something?" Hermione plead.

"I can't." he stated flatly.

"Fred, I know it hurts." Hermione whispered softly, brushing his bangs out of his face with the tips of her fingers, "I _know_ it does."

She felt the ripple of his sobs rack his body as he cried and as he did, she pulled him up to a sitting position and sat up on her knees to pull him closer to her. He was so racked with his own devastation that he couldn't even bring himself to wrap his arms around her, so she held him tighter, her chin resting against the top of his head, "You're okay." she murmured into his hair.

" _'Mione._ " he sobbed, her shirt pulled tight in both of his fists as he wept.

"I know. Sh, sh. I know." she murmured over and over again, unable to even comprehend what to do in the situation she'd been given.

She felt a stray tear run down her own cheek as a shadow appeared in the doorway. As George stood there, she understood the unspoken question, holding Fred tightly in one arm and opening the other wide for George. Hermione held both brothers tightly, allowing George to rest his head on her shoulder. He had no more tears to cry, but his devastation and inability to process what had happened was still evident.

"We all need some sleep." Hermione finally said after a few more moments, when both brothers had cried their fill, "We've all _got_ to sleep. You two stay in here tonight. I'll take the couch."

"Please stay." Fred asked brokenly.

After only a moment of consideration, Hermione nodded, making a spot for herself between the two brothers, "Everything is going to be okay. We're all going to be okay." she repeated her mantra into the early hours of the morning until she could finally feel the slow rise and fall of both of their chests. That night, she'd laid there completely and utterly distraught, unable to find even an hour's worth of sleep. When the sun was just about to peak out from behind the trees, she got up, careful not to wake either of the twins. She made breakfast quietly, setting out two plates in the off chance that either brother would've been willing to eat anything and then apparated her way over to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where she conjured a sign reading _SHOP CLOSED._


	26. The One With the Breakdown

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Hermione asked, holding on to Fred's hand tightly, "We don't have to go yet if you don't want to."

"No, they're not going to hold the whole funeral for us, Hermione. We've got to go now." he sighed, looking at the mirror in front of him, trying to tie his tie and struggling in near-defeat.

Hermione sighed, smiling slightly as she pulled him in her direction, "Let me do it." she murmured, fixing his tie quickly, "Did your dad never teach you how to tie a tie?" she asked, pressing a light kiss to his chin as she did.

"You look stunning." he murmured, a tiny smile playing at the corners of his lips as he Hermione as she spun in her sheer black blouse and skirt, "I'm glad you're here. I don't know what I would do if I had to do this alone."

"Me too." she smiled, taking his hand and leading him out the door to the car, "We've got to get going. Just remember that when we get to your parents' house, lots of people are going to want to give you their condolences. Just smile. Nod. A short anecdote if you feel like it, but you don't have to engage. No one is expecting it of you."

"I know, Hermione. You told me yesterday." he chuckled half-heartedly, "Listen...can we just...not talk about it? Not now, anyway."

"Yeah." Hermione nodded, only slightly taken aback as she took her spot in the passenger seat, "Of course. We...won't talk about it."

"Thank you." he nodded, keeping his eyes directly on the road in front of him as he drove.

In silence, they drove the distance between their suburban home to the Burrow. Only when they reached the front door of the Burrow, did they even acknowledge the other or the occasion that they were there for.

"Hello, you two." Ginny smiled, opening the door quietly for the two of them to the somber party, "There are drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the kitchen and the ceremony starts at one. You can help yourselves."

"George is over there by the fireplace with Audrey. See?" Hermione asked, pointing in his direction. As she did, he nodded, taking off in his brother's direction, "I think I'm going to go see if they need help in the kitchen. Do you want anything?"

"No. Thanks." he shook his head, making his way through the masses of quasi-whispered condolences and handshakes from old friends of the Weasley family that had been gone for years.

As Hermione weaseled her way into the kitchen, she half-expected Mrs. Weasley to be bustling around, putting the finishing touches on a family lunch. Instead, Fleur and Ginny bustled around the kitchen, full-well knowing that they were doing the work half the speed Mrs. Weasley would've been able to, "Grab a mitt, Hermione, and can you pull those pastries from the oven?" Ginny asked through gritted teeth as she worked furiously to output more and more food.

"Is this really necessary, Gin?" Hermione asked, yanking the pan from the oven and places it down on top of the stove, "I mean, nobody's really _eating._ Do you really need to be making this much food?"

"To be honest, I don't. You're right...But it keeps my mind off what we're actually here to do and Ron could stand to have a good meal. Percy too. It doesn't look like either of them have eaten for days."

"Where is Ron?" Hermione asked, realizing that while walking through the house she hadn't actually seen him anywhere.

"He's been out on the back porch all morning. Says he doesn't want to come inside. I think he's afraid to see Mum's body." she sighed.

For a split second she could feel anger bubbling up inside of her. There she was, standing in the kitchen with the woman who was making the food for her own mother's funeral, with brother's who were doing what they could to help prepare around the house...and Ron couldn't even be brought to come inside, much less pitch in and help. But the anger was gone as soon as it came. She reminded herself that people grieve in different ways, and as she could remember from their time during the War, Ron processed things far differently than other people did.

"Can I go talk to him?" Hermione asked.

"You can try." Ginny shrugged, "He hasn't said anything to anyone since the morning Mum...you know."

"Then I'll just go sit with him. I'm sure he could use the company. Do me a favor, Fleur, and when Gwen gets here make sure she does her part. She can help in the kitchen."

"I can do that." Fleur nodded as Hermione made her way out of the house and onto the back stoop, where her eye almost automatically landed on Ron, who was sprawled out across the grass in the back yard with a cigarette in hand.

"I didn't know you smoked." she murmured, stretching out to lay beside him.

Ron let out a chuckle, "I don't. Found them at the Ministry in Muggle Affairs. Someone told me they were supposed to help you relax. I gotta tell you," he grumbled, putting the cigarette to his lips and then letting out a hacking splutter, "It doesn't do much for me."

"Well, it doesn't do much for anyone other than cause cancer." she chuckled, pulling it from between his fingers, "Give me that." she murmured, placing it between her own lips and taking a long tug.

"I didn't think you smoked, Hermione." he teased her back.

"I don't smoke either." she shrugged, letting her head rest on his shoulder, "How come you won't talk to them, Ron? Everyone's inside. Why are you out here?"

He shook his head, sitting up and pulling his knees to his chest, "I don't want to go in because...if I do then it will all become real. I'm going to have to come to terms with the fact that in two hours...my mother's body is going to be in the ground and there's nothing I can do about that."

"Have you ever considered, Ron, that you haven't been able to process what's happened...because you haven't been willing to _speak_ to anyone? Hell, judging from what Ginny made it sound like, I can't believe you're talking to me _now._ "

"I haven't been able to speak because they haven't asked me anything worth answering. Would you believe that Mum's been dead for four days and not one single person has asked me about her? They just keep telling me that _everything's going to be okay?_ Isn't that the worst thing to say to someone at a time like this?" he questioned, an ironic smile plastered across his face, "Because everything's not okay, Hermione. My mother is dead. I shouldn't just have to _keep on_ with the promise that _everything's going to be okay._ It should be okay for me to need to...not...for a few days."

"Of course you deserve your time to mourn, Ron, but I'm going to tell you right now; that's the tactic that Fred took for the first night. He was a mess after only a few hours. Not to be overly crass, but I can't imagine the shit you're going to go through once you're ready to deal with this. It's been days."

"Maybe I'm just better at compartmentalizing than my brother." he scoffed.

"Be that as it may, we've got to get inside, Ron. The service is going to start any minute and I know you're going to regret it if you're not in there for it."

"You know, I never quite fell out of love with you, I don't think." Ron practically shouted as Hermione was making her way to the door.

Taking her off guard, his work caused her to turn on a heel, "Are you drunk, Ron?"

"Only a little."

"Clearly more than a little." she snapped, "Your mother practically begged me to take care of you _on her deathbed_ and I said yes, but _this,_ I will not put up with. And let's get one thing straight. We are here to celebrate the life of your mother. If you don't want to, that's your prerogative, but you do _not_ get to bring this up. _Not_ while my _husband,_ your _brother,_ is in that house accepting condolences and coming to terms with everything that's happened. You don't get to be an ass. Not today, Ronald Weasley." she barked, marching back into the house.

Ginny met up with Hermione as soon as she made her way back inside, "I saw you got him to speak. I was watching through the window in the kitchen." she admitted, "Do you think he'll be coming in?"

"I've got no idea." Hermione shrugged, "Is it starting?"

"Any minute now."

"Alright; I'm going to go find Fred, then." Hermione smiled, giving Ginny a quick hug before they parted ways.

Hermione stood on her toes, peering through the crowd of people crammed into the Burrow, trying to find her familiar tuft of ginger hair floating in the crowd. Her eyes finally landed on Fred and she pushed her way closer and closer through the crowd. Finally she was able to take her seat beside him, looping her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Ladies, gentlemen...we're here today to remember and celebrate the life of Mrs. Molly Weasley." Kingsley stated, flattening out his tie as he stood in front of the hundreds of family and friends that had congregated for the event. It had been a surprise to all when they'd learn that the Minister himself would be giving the speech himself, "Mrs. Weasley was a loving mother, an accomplished witch, a beloved spouse, and so much more to so many people..."

Hermione and Fred listened quietly, holding onto each other for support as they did. After all was said and done, the gathering made its way out into the yard where they dedicated Molly Weasley's body back to the earth. After the body was put to rest and the hole was filled in, there was nothing left for the party to do but eat. And boy did they ever. It had become evident that over the past days, the entire family had struggled to keep down and food. And though horrible devastation still racked the lot of them, with the body in the ground, there seemed to be a further level of finality to the thing. In this, the family found their peace and broke bread together.

As the family ate and laughed, reminiscing on all of the good times they'd had together, Hermione was reminded of what was not one of her finest moments by none other than Ginny, "Don't you remember, Hermione," she chuckled, "at the _big reveal,_ where you were going to reveal to everyone that you were expecting..."

Hermione chuckled in response, waving her hand to quiet the other girl, "I don't even think I made it through the door before your mother was crushing me in a hug. I don't think I ever really realized how _bloody_ strong she was before then. You shouldn't forget, though, Ginny...the time that you broke that vase of your grandmother's and then blamed it on Teddy. Your mother wouldn't let Harry bring Teddy by for weeks after that,"

"You know Mum never would've forgiven me if she'd known it was me who broke the bloody thing. I swear-" she shook her head, "Or...what about the time that Mum tried to get Tonks and Bill together?"

" _That time?_ " Bill scoffed, "You mean from my seventh year onward?" he chuckled, "Lest you forget the time at _my_ wedding when Fred insisted he was going to run off into the sunset, leaving Mum in a full Body-Bind. Then, of course, he's the one to have the largest wedding yet."

" _Hey,_ " Ron slurred, clearly having had a few drinks too many, "Hey, I've got one!" he shouted, "Remember that one time when...when my brother married the love of my life." the room went silent then, all eyes bouncing between Hermione, Fred, and Ron, as if they were watching a tennis match, "Those were the good ole days, eh, Fred?"

"Ron, I told you...not today." Hermione whispered barely intelligibly, clearly hurt, " _Not today._ "

"Come on, Ron." Ginny sighed, looping an arm through his, "Let's get you upstairs. Sleep it off."

"Yeah, sleep it off. Keep me quiet." Ron continued to argue as Ginny and Harry practically dragged him up the stairs. The next shout to come left the entire party off guard.

"Fuck's sake, Ron." Percy bellowed, smashing his fist against the table and jumping to his feet, "Our mother is dead. Can you quit _wallowing_ in your own self-pitying _bullshit_ long enough to let the rest of us mourn?"

"Okay, I think that might be enough for you, too." Audrey sighed, taking Lucy off of her lap, grabbing Percy's cup from the table and washing its contents down the sink, "Go upstairs. I'll meet you up there." she murmured.

"I'll take Lucy." Victoire offered, stretching her arms out for the young girl. Audrey muttered her thanks before running up the stairs to follow Percy.

Hermione looked around the room as it slowly began to thin out, "Didn't that send things to a rather abrupt end?" she sighed in utter discontent, "I'm sorry, Fred."

"It's not your fault he had too much to drink." he shook his head, "Are you going home tonight? I think I'm going to stay in my old room tonight, too."

"I'll stay with you." she smiled half-heartedly, "We should probably turn in soon. Wouldn't you think?"

"Can you help me with the clean up, Hermione?" Fleur asked, grabbing Percy's and Audrey's plates from the table.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't you go on upstairs?" Hermione offered, giving Fred a peck on the temple as she passed by, "I'll be up when we've got everything cleaned up."

Quietly, Hermione went about clearing the table, bringing old dishes to Ginny for cleaning. The house fell eerily silent as she put away the last bit of china and headed up the stairs to Fred's old room.

Pausing on the stairs, Hermione took a deep breath. She couldn't help but feel her blood boiling with rage as she thought through the night's events. Diverting her course, she headed to the attic, slamming clear through the door into Ron's room. There she caught sight of Harry and Ron chatting quietly in the corner, their conversation torn to shreds by her first punch.

" _You son of a bitch_." Hermione screamed, letting another blow land across Ron's jaw, causing Harry to jump to his feet in utter shock.

"Oi!" Ron guffawed, shielding his face with his hands as she went after him again, this time digging her foot clear into his side. He toppled over onto the floor, his balance thrown off by his obvious inebriation.

Though Harry tried to restrain her, Hermione pulled free of his grip and continued her attack through a haze of tears, "How could you? After your mother _–_ _and you couldn't just leave well enough alone! My husband-_ "

" _Christ, Hermione,_ " Harry shouted, trying to fit himself between the two in order to shield Ron from her blows.

Ginny came running into the room then, having heard the row from the hallway. With strength in numbers on their side, Harry and Ginny were able to overtake Hermione for only a moment. Managing to free most of her arm, Hermione flailed, her elbow accidentally making contact with Ginny's temple.

Ginny stumbled against the wall clutching the side of her face in utter disbelief. Reinvigorated with new fury of his own, Harry dragged Hermione to the ground, pinning her there in a hysterical sobbing heap.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Harry?" Fred questioned from where he stood in the doorway, peering down at the scene, "Get off of her." he snapped, coming to Hermione's aid.

"I'm so sorry." Hermione sobbed, her face contorting as she wailed, "I didn't mean to–I just–I can't–"

"I know." Fred murmured, pulling her up to a sitting position and wrapping his arms around her tightly, "I know."

" _Let go of me._ " Hermione snapped pointedly, pushing against his chest then, "Fred! Fred, _get off-_ "

"Hermione, you need to-"

She shook her head, pushing against him again, "No, no. I'm going to be sick." she snapped, grabbing a bin out of the corner of the room and throwing herself over it just in time. Only moments later a wave of nausea hit that racked her entire body as she heaved out the contents of her stomach.

Fred held Hermione's hair out of her face as Ginny knelt beside her, rubbing comforting circles on her back. Hermione gasped as she tried to catch her breath, wiping her mouth on the hem of her shirt. It was undeniable; she was a complete mess.

"Oh, Hermione." Ginny sighed, resting a hand against her friend's flushed cheek, "Are you alright?"

Harry let out a deep sigh, going to check on Ron who had scampered to the other side of the room, "Gin, Ron's bleeding pretty badly–"

"Then get him a washcloth," Ginny grumbled, "I'm busy."

"Hermione, can you talk to me, please?" Fred asked softly, rubbing her back to try to calm her down.

"She was like a mother to me." Hermione whispered, her lip quivering of its own accord, "I'm so sorry."

"I know, Hermione." he nodded, pressing his forehead to hers, "I know. It hurts."

"Why don't you two head back to your room, Fred?" Ginny sighed, looking around at the mess that had been left after the fight, "I'll clean up."

With the help of Fred, Hermione was able to right herself on shaky knees and make her way out of the room. As soon as she reached the safety of their old room, Hermione let out a sigh and collapsed onto the bed.

Fred sighed, letting a few tears of his own fall as he kicked off his shoes and did away with his tie, "I wish there were some way we could...prevent Gwen from ever having to go through anything like this. Because this is the worst pain-"

"Please don't, Fred. I can't think about that. Not tonight." she sighed, staring straight ahead at the ceiling, "Please, just stay here. Stay with me."

"That, I can do." he nodded, helping her to sit up and pulling her soiled shirt over her head, "We'll stay here as long as we need."


	27. The One With the Interruption

"Fred...I can't feel my legs." Hermione grumbled, pulling herself free from the massive pile of blankets and limbs that had resulted from the couple's latest jaunt, "I don't think we're doing this right."

"The computer said it might take some trial and error. We're just in the...error...part." he reasoned with a chuckled.

"I swear, Fred Weasley, that is the last time I let you on my laptop without my supervision." she grumbled, heading for the bathroom and reaching for her robe, "Let's just...call it a night." she shook her head, "I don't know _why_ I would let you talk me into...did you hear that?" she questioned as footsteps could be heard outside of the door.

"Mum, Dad?" Gwen's voice called through the door, giving it a knock.

Fred sat up, grabbing for his shirt as he did, "Were we expecting her?"

"I don't think so." Hermione shrugged, going to the door then, "Honey, it's late." she chuckled, opening the door for her daughter, "What's wrong?"

"No, no. Nothing's wrong." Gwen shook her head, "I was just hoping I could talk for a minute."

"Of course you can, Gwen." she murmured, stepping out and shutting the door behind her, "What's going on? Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I won't be long." she shook her head, "I just wanted to tell you and Dad in person that we decided on a date for the wedding."

"Oh, you did? That's wonderful, Baby. When will it be? Where are we going to be having it?" she asked excitedly. It had admittedly taken a while, but Hermione had finally come around to the idea of her only daughter getting married. If she was being honest, she was actually looking forward to the dress shopping, cake tasting, and dance lessons that she would get to share with her girl.

"We've decided that we want it one week from today, actually." she said with a nervous smile.

"One _week._ " Hermione exclaimed, "One week, Gwen? How are we supposed to plan everything in one week?"

"I want to have it at the Burrow. Just like you and Auntie Fleur."

"Gwen...are you sure?"

"I just want to marry him, Mum." she blushed, "I could marry him on the porch with the mailman as our only guest." she admitted, "Can you help me get it together?"

"Next Sunday." Hermione nodded, "Yes, we can make that happen. Your Dad and I can make this happen."

"Dad can make what happen?" Fred question, finally stepping out from the bedroom.

"We're having a wedding in a week." Hermione explained, pulling a notepad from a kitchen drawer, to list out all of the tasks they would need to complete in the coming week, "So, Fred, tomorrow I'll be taking Gwen out to find her dress. And while we're doing that, I'm going to need you to dig through the shed and find the tents and tables. Get them dusted off and prepared. I want them set up a few days early so we can have a rehearsal and get some pictures."

"Gwen, look at what you've done to your mother." Fred chuckled, shaking his head as Hermione tore off his portion of the list and handed it to him.

"Do you think the craft store is still open? We could get started on centerpieces tonight and-"

"Hermione, it's nearly one in the morning. No store is open at one in the morning." Fred cackled, "We can get started in the morning."

"So we're going to do this?" Gwen asked, seemingly shocked at her parents' quick uptake.

"We're going to do this." Hermione nodded, "Now, you go on back to yours and tell Declan that he's going suit shopping tomorrow with Percy and Harry."

"Percy and Harry?"

"Someone's get to babysit them while you, me, and your aunts are out dress shopping and it may as well be Declan. Fred, make sure to let George know tomorrow that he's to close the shop early on Sunday and help us to prepare the reception. And after he's off tomorrow he can help with the sorting of the tents."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Fred saluted sarcastically, heading back to bed shortly after.

"Alright." Hermione nodded, holding Gwen's face between her hands, "We've got a big week coming up. Go home and get a good night's sleep. I'll come round tomorrow so we can find your dress."

With that Gwen turned around and left the house quickly with a _pop._ A moment later, Hermione smile dropped and she turned to rejoin Fred in their room.

"How about that?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows, "What's the matter?"

"I think she's hiding something." Hermione murmured, "They've been engaged for nearly a year and a half and then out of the blue she's ready in a week? I don't buy it."

"What don't you buy, Hermione." he chucked, "You're not making any sense."

"Why else would she want to do it on such short notice, Fred? Think about it."

"I'm not-"

"I think she's pregnant."


	28. The One With the Dress Shop

"Good morning, Weasley-Finnegan household!" Hermione called, as she arrived her daughter's flat with a _pop,_ "It is eight in the morning. Time to get a move on."

"Mum, it's too early." she grumbled, rubbing her eyes as she walked into the kitchen with a still-groggy Declan in tow.

"Coffee, Mrs. Weasley?" Declan grumbled, offering Gwen's mother the pot.

"No, no, no." she chided, "If you two wanted coffee you should have been up an hour ago. We need to get started to the dress store before it gets too busy. I didn't have time to book an appointment, so we're just going to have to take our chances and get there early. Declan, I trust that you have already sorted out your day with Percy and Harry."

"Indeed I have, Mrs. Weasley." he chuckled, "Thank you for keeping us all on schedule."

"It's what I'm here for." she nodded, then turning toward her daughter, "What are you doing still in your pyjamas. Come on; you've got twenty minutes. Go get ready."

"What does one dress like for a costume fitting?" she questioned, heading back toward her closet.

"It isn't a costume fitting, Gwen. We're just going to look at dresses. Just throw something on and then let's go." she called, "Show some hustle. We've got six days to plan this thing from scratch."

"Isn't this supposed to be the happiest day of my life or something?" Gwen called, stomping back into the room sporting an smart black t-shirt dress and a topknot.

Hermione shook her head with a smile, "Not for another six days, it isn't. Now let's get going."

"I like that one." Ginny shouted, pumping her fist in the air, "That's definitely the one. Simple, elegant."

"I don't think so." Hermione shook her head, analyzing her daughter as she stood on a pedestal in front of her bridal party, "I think it's too tight around the middle. You need something that's not so-"

"It's alright, Mum. I didn't particularly like this one anyway." she shrugged, dropping it to the floor before going back to the wrack and looking to see what else had been pulled for her, "I'm going to try this one, I think." she murmured, pulling out a mermaid silhouette with a shimmering bodice.

"Ooh, I love it already." Victoire exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Of course you would." Gwen rolled her eyes, "The sparklier, the better, eh?"

"I'm just saying," Victoire insisted, "it's your wedding. There shouldn't be anyone in the room who outshines you."

"Thank you for that." Gwen giggled, rolling her eyes, "What about this one?" she asked, pulling the mermaid into place.

"I just don't think you should go for something so...tight." Hermione insisted, "You need room to...grow." Looking around the room, she could see everyone's eyes incredulously fixated on her, "I know my daughter stress eats." she shrugged.

"Thanks, Mum. I appreciate it." Gwen chuckled, turning back to the mirror, "For the record, though, I do think I'm looking for something more...I don't know...A-line, maybe? More like a ball gown?"

" _Yes!_ " Hermione exclaimed in her excitement, "Yes, that's exactly what you need." she nodded, "Keep looking on the wrack. Your auntie and I are going to go around the store and see if we can't find something more similar to the style that you're looking for."

"You want to tell me what the bloody hell all that was about?" Ginny asked in a whisper as she and Hermione dug through heaps upon heaps of dresses, trying to find something to meet Gwen's specifications.

Hermione shrugged, pulling one off the wrack, "I know she's keeping something from me. I'm going to make her so uncomfortable that she's going to tell me. maybe not today, but she'll tell me."

"Merlin, Hermione, did you ever think of just asking her?" Ginny chuckled.

"But that's so much less fun." she chuckled with a wink, "If she thinks she can keep a secret from me and her father...we're going to give her the run-around and wait for her to come to us."

"Fred is a bad influence on you, you know?" Ginny shook her head, "You never would've done this twenty years ago."

"I was boring twenty years ago, wasn't I?"

"Stiflingly so."

"Thanks for that." she chuckled, pulling another dress before turning on her heels and heading back in the direction of the wedding party, "These should be enough, I think. Let's see if she likes any of them."

"I think this is the one." Gwen murmured, admiring herself in the mirror as she did, "I feel like a princess."

"You look absolutely stunning." Hermione shook her head in complete awe, admiring the sight before her, all previous thoughts of hilarity leaving her.

"Thank you, Mum." she began to tear up, unable to tear her eyes away from the mirror, "I don't want to take it off."

"Then that's the one. Let's buy it and then get on the road so we can start looking for shoes and accessories." Hermione said, helping Gwen out of her dress tentatively, "It really is perfect. You're going to look perfect."


	29. The One With the Admittance

"Alright, Mother. Do you want to tell me what all of that was about at the dress shop?" Gwen asked as soon as the two parted from the remainder of the bridal party, "Are you just trying to embarrass me so that I'll put it off or something?"

"No, of course not. I don't know what would make you think such a thing."

Gwen rolled her eyes as the two apparated back to her apartment. Declan had not yet gotten back from tux shopping so this was her opportunity, "Mother, I'm young, not stupid. Will you tell me what's going on?"

"I know you're pregnant, Gwen." Hermione admitted, "I wish you would have just told me and your father instead of cooking up this scheme to get this wedding done and over with. You have to know that we would've understood-"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Gwen snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, " _That's what you think this is?_ " she chuckled angrily, "Mum, I'm not pregnant."

"What is it, then?" Hermione continued to question, "I know it's something. You know you can tell me things, Gwen. It doesn't matter how bad or embarrassing they are. You can tell me anything."

Gwen shook her head then, tears beginning to appear at the corners of her eyes, "It's between me and Declan, Mum. Please."

"Gwen, it wasn't even a year ago that you damn near broke up with him because he wanted to get married and you didn't and now overnight...I'm sure you get how strange this seems from our point of view. What is happening that is making you cry over this boy?"

"He's not just some _boy,_ Mum. He's going to be my husband. That's what matters now. You'll understand soon enough. You will. I promise." she murmured, wiping away her tears as she did.

"For God's sake, Gwen. Nothing can be so bad that you can't just _tell_ me. If he's not dying and you're not-"

Gwen's eyes shot up to her mother and then quickly back down to her feet. It took Hermione only one moment to put two and two together, "Oh, Gwen-"

"Mum, just...please. Don't." she murmured, her voice cracking, defeated.

Hermione had to take a seat then. She couldn't believe what she was having to rap her head around, "Does his family-"

"No, they don't know. Nobody knows. Mum, we just lost Gran. We both knew that you and Dad were still mourning and we didn't want to worry you with it until it was necessary. We just wanted to have one good thing...the wedding...before things went South again." she sighed, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Seamus deserves to know, Gwen. I can't just keep this to myself."

"Mother, I am begging you. Please don't tell anyone. Let us have this one thing. Let us be married and happy for a few weeks. Then we'll tell everyone." Gwen insisted, "Please. This is what we both want."

"Gwen, I don't think."

"He's got cancer, Mum." she snapped, "I've been going with him to his chemotherapy in London. They say he could be fine for years. There's no need to scare everyone, especially so soon after-"

"Quit saying that, Gwen. There's no reason why you two should have to go through this alone. Cancer is hard on a person. He's going to need you more than he ever has before...every single day. Is that something you're ready for."

"One time I talked to Dad about what love was like." she murmured, wiping away a stray tear, "It was right after I started getting the feeling that Declan was going to propose. And he said that love was the feeling you get...the _knowing..._ that you have to be with that person. The knowing that you would do anything for them...anything to be by their side."

"Your father said that?" Hermione asked, seeminly stunned, "And that's...how you feel about Declan?"

"That's how I feel about Declan." she nodded, "I'm going to be with him through this. And if he wants us to get married before he gets too sick...or if he wants to keep his this a secret...then that's what I'm going to do."

It was only then that her flood of tears came, "Here, here." Hermione sighed, pulling her daughter into a tight hug on the couch, "I'm proud of you, Gwennie." she murmured, pressing a kiss to her daughter's temple, "It's alright."

There was a crack out in the hallway then, signaling that the boys had arrived back from their own shopping trip. Gwen frantically wiped at her tears once again as Hermione shook her head and pulled out her wand, "I've got this." she said, giving her wand a quick wave which caused a sappy movie to materialize on the screen in front of them.

"How the hell did you all get back here before we did?" Declan chuckled.

"What the hell are you two watching?" Fred questioned, turning towards the TV to take in the _kissing in the rain_ sequence that had both Gwen and Hermione in tears, "And...why?"

"Shhh...it's getting good." Hermione insisted.

Fred shook his head then, rolling his eyes, "Back to mine for a drink, lads?" he asked, turning towards he other men.

"Good for me." Declan nodded, clearly wanting to take the opportunity to impress his future father-in-law, "I'll be back by dinner, Gwen."

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here." she grumbled, waving a dismissive hand in his direction. After hearing another _pop_ signaling that the boys had gone, Gwen slumped back into the couch, letting out a heavy sigh, "Thank you for the save." she muttered.

"That's what I'm here for, Baby."


	30. The One With the Repeat

"Are you almost done with her hair?" Hermione questioned, watching as one of Gwen's school friends fiddled her hair into tiny ringlets in a crown around her head, "I don't mean to hurry you, but we've got exactly thirty minutes to get her out the door and down the aisle."

"Give me the veil and then I'll be done." the girl called, holding one hand out for the piece of material while she continued rolling with the other, "Alright, that should be it for me." she said, stepping back to admire her masterpiece, "I think you're ready."

Hermione stared at her checklist for the umpteenth time that day, ensuring that not one item had been missed, "Makeup."

"Good." One of the bridesmaids called, going through her own checklist.

"Hair with veil."

"Yes."

"Dress."

"In place and ready to be stepped into."

"Shoes."

"Waiting by the dress."

"Alright, then. Let's get this show on the road."

"She looks just like you did on your wedding day, you know?" Hermione's mother murmured, taking her out of her checklist craze.

"Really, Mum." Hermione rolled her eyes, continuing to go through her list as Gwen's maid of honor helped her into her dress, "My firey red-headed, size zero child bares hardly any resemblance to me."

"You know that's not what I meant." she chuckled, "She looks just as scared as you did."

"I was not scared on my wedding day, Mother." Hermione grumbled.

"Oh, I certainly beg to differ. You looked like you were about to lose your breakfast until half way through your first dance."

"Honestly, Mother."

"Have you ever watched those videos that Granddad filmed?" Mrs. Granger cackled mercilessly, "You were terrified."

"Well...it was ridiculous for me to be nervous." Hermione shrugged, "And it's just as ridiculous for her to be nervous today. Declan is good for her."

A knock came then on the door, causing all of the women to fall silent, "Who's there?" Hermione called, setting down her clipboard and making her way to the door.

"Just me." Fred called through the door, "Father of the bride!"

Hermione flung the door open then, hands on her hips, "Fred, what are you doing here? You have a job to be doing. Do you remember what Ginny asked you to do?"

"You put the guest book on a giant table in the middle of the entryway, Hermione. I don't think people need me there to point to it." he argued, "I know we're getting close to time; I just wanted to get one more good look at my girl." he murmured, peeking over Hermione's shoulder, "Can I come in?"

"I suppose there's no stopping you, is there?" Hermione chuckled, rolling her eyes and stepping aside.

"Hi, Dad." Gwen murmured, turning from the mirror to face her parents, "Don't you look nice." she smiled weakly, "I don't think I've ever seen you in a bow tie."

"Shut up." he grumbled, yanking at the tie to relieve some of the pressure around his neck before holding his arms open wide, "What? Are you not going to hug your dear old dad?"

"Shut up." she murmured with a wry smile on her face. Any nervous anticipation she'd had for the day's events melted away when she was in the presence of her rambunctious father. Her wedding day was no exception.

Fred held her tightly, giving her a pat on the head, "You look stunning, Gwennie."

Gwen took a step back, pointing an accusatory finger in his face, "Don't you dare call me that during your toast." she giggled.

"What? Gwennie?"

"I never liked it."

Hermione nodded knowingly, "She never has." she laughed.

"You know what? I'll just go." he nodded approvingly at his two girls, extending his hand out for Hermione, "We've only got a few minutes. Why don't we go ahead and take our seats."

"We'll see you after." Hermione said, pressing a quick kiss to Gwen's cheek before heading off out the door with Fred in tow.

"Alrighty, Missus Finnegan," Gwen's maid of honor called, lifting up the many layers at the bottom of Gwen's dress to help her walk, "Let's get you married."


	31. The One With the Prophet

"Who's this barging into my house in the dead of night?" Fred murmured, going to meet Hermione at the door, "You haven't been home in days. I was starting to think you'd ditched me for a younger man." he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Tired." she grumbled absently, dropping her bad as she waddled through the door, "I'm sorry I haven't been home. I...slept at the office." she said between yawns.

"Not very well, it seems."

"No, not at all." she smiled weakly, "What are you doing up?"

He gave a weak shrug then, "Couldn't sleep. Seems to be the theme of the evening for both of us. I'll put on some tea."

"Thank you." Hermione sighed in relief, "That would be so nice." she grumbled, collapsing into the couch in utter exhaustion.

From the kitchen, Fred began striking what little conversation he could think of, "Anything interesting at work?"

"Sat in on some jury. One was pretty big. Ended in a stalemate. Have you seen today's _Prophet?_ " she yawned.

"Sounds riveting." he chuckled, "Nothing too much is new with the shoppe; thanks for asking. We hired a new bookkeeper."

"I certainly hope this one is better at maths than that last girl. She landed you nearly six thousand in the hole in the last quarter."

He let out a hearty laugh then, "Don't you feel the need to mention that that _girl_ was _you,_ Hermione?" he joked, handing her a piping mug, "Are you getting sick?" he questioned, "You don't look very well."

"You sure do know how to make a woman swoon, Fred Weasley." she grumbled into her mug, "I'm fine. Just tired. I think after this I'll turn in."

"Have you heard from Gwen in the last few days? How are they doing off in whatever wasteland they've decided to honeymoon in?"

"It's not a wasteland, Fred. It's Papua New Guinea. There's lots of culture there and Declan likes hiking or...something. I don't know why they chose it, but they did, and I wasn't about to talk Gwen out of what she wanted."

"I'd bet you they got the idea from Victoire and Teddy. They took that hiking trip and suddenly every one of the kids wanted to take a hiking trip." he rolled his eyes, "I don't see the use for it."

"Indeed." Hermione nodded, "Especially for a family with your complexion."

"Is that really still a joke worth making, Hermione? You really need to stock up on some new jabs."

It was at that exact moment that Hermione saw the corner of the day's _Prophet_ sticking out of her bag. As nonchalantly as she could, she reached down and tucked it back into place, with a shrug of the shoulders. Fred gave her a bemused look, "What was that?"

"What was what?" she asked with a chuckle.

"What was that that you were trying to sneak back into your purse? Something you don't want me to see?"

"No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous." she insisted, smacking his hand away when he went to reach for it, "You know, actually...I'm going to go to bed because I have not _seen_ my bed for three days. I'll see you in the morning. Are you done with that?" she asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder and ripping his mug from his hands.

She watched him shuffle around the living, trying to piece together Hermione's abrupt ending to their conversation as she washed out their mugs and marched up the stairs to their room.

Moments later, he joined her, arms crossed in frustration, "Are you sure you're alright, Hermione?"

"Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" she murmured, pulling a book from her bedside table.

"Something's been bothering you since the moment you walked through the door, Hermione. Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to pry it out of you?" Fred questioned.

"I promise you, Fred. It isn't anything to get worked up over. I'm just...tired."

"No, you're not, Hermione. I may be thick, but I'm not that stupid. Now, tell me." he insisted.

Begrudgingly, Hermione placed her copy of the _Prophet_ down in front of Fred, "Just...read it for yourself."

"Death eaters?" he questioned, "I'd thought we'd seen the backs of them twenty years ago."

"That's what we all thought, but this is the third death eater this week that's _mysteriously_ gone missing from Azkaban and we have absolutely no idea how they're managing it. We have Aurors scouring known sympathizers homes. We sent a few to check some of the old meeting places from before the war. There's nothing. It's like they've disappeared into thin air."

"They did, did they?" he murmured, "And it just so happened that an _unnamed_ Ministry official went missing the very same night that the most recent escape from Azkaban occurred. It's a coincidence?"

Hermione shook her head, shrugging off her jacket as she did, "That's what we've convinced the papers to refer to it as for now. We're trying to keep this as far under wraps as we possibly can. If anyone finds out. Christ, if Harry-"

"Harry?"

" _Shit-_ "

"No...why Harry?" he asked, wary.

"It's confidential Ministry business."

"Hermione, I'm your husband. You can tell me."

"If I tell you, you have to swear not to tell a soul." she insisted adamantly.

"Fine. Just tell me. Unload."

"I mean this, Fred. Not. One. Person." he gave her one more reassuring nod before she took a breath and barreled on, "Fred, it's Teddy that's gone missing."

At that very moment Fred crumpled in on himself at the edge of the bed, his elbows hitting his knees as he held his face in his hands in utter exasperation, "Christ, Hermione-"

"We've got every Auror we can spare out searching for any trace of him. If he is with them...if they want something in exchange for him...they should make themselves known within the next day or so."

"If they want something in exchange? You mean they're trying to ransom him? What could they possibly need or want that would require a ransom?"

"We don't know that, Fred. I've got the best people the Ministry has to offer trying to figure out exactly what...this...is going to look like. With any luck it shouldn't take all that long to resolve." She sat up then, laying a head on his shoulder exhaustedly, "Listen, I know that was a lot to throw at you, Fred, but I need to know that you're not going to tell Harry. The Ministry needs to try to resolve this first before he goes crashing in unannounced, which I know he will. So, no mentioning this to your brothers. No mentioning it to Ginny. And don't you _dare_ say anything to Harry. Not without my go-ahead. Okay?"

"You're right." he nodded in agreement, "Why do you think they went after Teddy?"

"The Ministry-"

"I'm not asking about the Ministry. I'm asking about you, Hermione." he insisted.

She shook her head then, looking up in guilt, "I can't tell you that, Fred. Not until the Ministry has come up with some semblance of a plan."

" _Hermione-_ "

"I can tell you, though, that I've got a plan in place for us. I just hope it doesn't come to that. And I've covered Gwen and Declan's stay in their bungalow for another couple of weeks, so you don't need to worry about them either."

"Do you think it's going to be bad?"

Hermione took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair then, choosing her words carefully, "I think it has the potential to become bad. Hopefully, though, the Ministry can come to a resolution before it comes to that."

"And if they don't?"

"I have a plan. I'll let you in on it when the time comes; I promise. But right now, it would cause a whole lot of worry over something that is a potential non-issue. Just go to work, come home...like normal. You'll know when it's time. Trust me."

"I do trust you, Granger." Hermione stopped in her tracks then, looking up at him in amusement, "What is it?"

"You haven't called me _Granger_ in over twenty years." she giggled, "It makes me feel young again."

He let out a laugh then, giving her an exhausted smile, "I can't believe we've gotten to the point where we can laugh, even when _this_ is happening." he grumbled, flourishing the _Prophet,_ "What does that say about us?"

"It says that we're pretty damn resilient."

"Alright." he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Get some sleep. I know you've got an early morning."


	32. The One With the Arrival

"I'm back!" Gwen called, shoving her way through the door to the Burrow without so much as a knock, "Who missed me?"

To her shock, her entire extended family sat around, covering nearly every surface the den had to offer, all with entirely dismal looks on their faces. She dropped her bag and made her way to go stand alongside her mother, "I sent Declan back to the apartment. Should I have brought him here?"

"We were hoping that you two would chosen to stay in Papua New Guinea for a longer period. There's news." Hermione admitted, "You'll have to explain in...simpler...terms to Declan. You should sit down, Gwennie. Something's happened."

"What is it?" she asked, appraising the room. Her family all sat with tears of utter frustration in their eyes as they peered down at the floor. That's when she noticed – boxes and bags of all sizes and stripes peppering the room around them, "Mum-"

"Teddy Lupin is dead." Victoire spat, glaring a hole into the floor as she sat on corner loveseat with the elbows on her knees.

"Oh my God." Gwen cried in shock, collapsing onto the chair that had been offered to her by her mother, "Victoire, I-"

Hermione put a hand on Gwen's shoulder to silence her, "That's not the whole thing, Gwen." she sighed, "Several others – Hannah Longbottom and Alice Longbottom – they've gone missing in the same way as Teddy."

"Alice Longbottom can't be more than two years old. What's she done?" Gwen snapped.

Hermione shook her head then as Harry stood to address the body, "The Aurors who are investigating it believe that the three abductions were in connections to the Death Eaters that have gone missing from Azkaban over the last month."

"So what do we do about it?" Gwen asked, folding her arms over her chest, "They've killed one of us. What do we do now?"

"There are proper avenues to get them back and we'll be leaving it to the Ministry." her father murmured, placing a hand on her unoccupied shoulder, "We've decided to go into hiding. We'll be taking you and Declan with us and with any luck he'll be none the wiser."

"What are you talking about, Dad?" Gwen asked, jumping to her feet, "You all fought a war and won. Why are you stepping down now? You know the Death Eaters. You know their moves and you can beat them again." she insisted, "We can't go into hiding. This is Neville's wife and daughter on the line."

"And it could be more of us." Harry snapped, "Any day now, if we don't go into hiding."

"When we fought the last war, Death Eaters were an organized. We knew who they were, where they were...this is so much different. They have twenty years of vengeance just waiting to come raining down on us. They're recruiting. We don't know what they're capable of this time around and they've already killed one of us. A pureblood. You're mistaken if you don't think they would come after any one of us next." Hermione sighed, "Gwen, the decision has already been made. We're going at the end of the week."

"Maybe you'll be going...all of you...but I'm staying. I'll fight. And I'll find others to join me." she snapped, "This is ridiculous." she barked, "You people were the backbone of the resistance twenty years ago and now you're just...leaving." she shook her head in frustration, "I'll be upstairs. Thanks for the welcoming."

"I think we'll be off, then." Ginny murmured, standing and heading for the door, "We've got early preparations tomorrow. We'll see you all once more before we leave."

Slowly, the family began to trickle out the door, leaving only Fred and Hermione left in the den.

"I think that went well." Hermione nodded, looking exhaustedly over to her husband.

"As well as could be expected. She's been away for a month and the first thing we hit her with is this. How did you think she was going to react?"

"I don't know." she sighed, "I was hoping she would be more understanding than this."

"She doesn't have a family yet, Hermione; she doesn't understand how it changes your mindset. Let's be honest here; if we didn't have her, you and I would be the first to charge into battle, but now-"

"I know that, Fred, but I don't know how we're going to explain that to her." she continued, "I don't want her to think that she's from a family of frauds. That's the last thing I want."

"She isn't going to think that, Hermione." he insisted, "We'll let her sleep and talk to her in the morning."

Hermione nodded. In recent months, she'd noticed, her general state of being had been that of complete and utter exhaustion. She was beginning to feel her age and the weight of recent events had not been doing her any favors. From Declan's cancer, to the Death Eaters, Hermione could have sworn she was going to lose it.

"Come with me." Fred whispered, extending a hand to her and leading her up the stairs, sensing the impended meltdown, "Come on." he insisted, taking her hand in his own and leading her to the very top floor before heading directly into the attic and shoving the window open, "After you, milady." he said with a cheeky bow.

"Charming." she murmured with an eye roll, taking his hand and stepping out onto the ledge and swinging her legs up onto the roof's landing, "Our place." she sighed in relief.

"Our place." he confirmed.

She looked up to the sky and let her back seep into the shingles, still warm from the sun, "We haven't been up here in years." she chucked, "I forget how calm it is up here."

"Almost as though you can ignore anything that's going on down there, huh?" he said, pointing to the few house guests below who were still clearly bickering about the day's events.

"I'm not thinking about it." she insisted, "I am _not_ thinking about it. Not while I'm up here. That's how it works."

"Okay," he nodded in agreement, "Then we'll stay up here as long as we need and do whatever we've got to do in the morning."

"Good." she agreed, laying her head on his shoulder, "It's going to be fine, right?"

"'Course it is."


End file.
